CflAPTIlR in 



The Lowec Steppes. 

 From the Finke River to the James Range. 



Discovfi'.v and iiaiiiiiiL; nf the Finkc liy McPouall Stuart, iTi 18(10 — View of the FiiiUc Valley — Ciinniiis'hain Gap anil 

 Ciowii Point, — Camp of P,lac ks— Theii' life in Camp -f^oiroliborccs -Two important form'?, ordinary and 

 sacred— CImrii'ia, saered Stones and Sticks— Organisation of the Tribe— The way in which the.\ prepare for 

 an orilinary ('orrohhorec — I'sual Ornaments, Weapons, and Implements— Women Monrnin^- Collecting'- 

 amnnyst the Sandhills — Pyrameis kershawi and Panais petilia — Scor|iions— Deaf Adder — Occvirrence and 

 Habits of Limnnilynastes ornatus -Two Types of F.nrrowinf;' F'ro,i;s in Central Australia — Departure from 

 Crown I'omt -Fii'acli the Ijilla Creek — Meet Messrs. Wa,tt and WimiecKe at the Horse Slioe Bend on the 

 Finke— Tile Horn l!,.Ui;4e- Social Catcr|>illar C;\ses on F.iicaly)itus niicrothec:i and Acacias \'arious case 

 Moths— Deserijition of the Scrub— Camp at Idraeowra— Determine n|)on Future I'lans— Return of .Mr. Horn 

 to Adelaide— Vi.sit to Chambers Pillar — Sandhills— Desert Oaks— Dc.scri))tion of the I'illar— M.\ th of the 

 P-laeks to account for the Pillar— Nature and Formation of Water-hole.s aloni,' the Rivers- Sudden 

 appearance of Flooils in jiarts where no Rain has fallen— Presence of Fish in the Water-hole— No Fish in 

 Central Australia known to have taken on the habit of Protopterns. the Mud Fish— Notoryctes typhlops. the 

 Marsuiiiul Mole— Is Notoryctes a form specially modified since climatic conditions became olian.^ed in the 

 Central area, or is it the n innant of a once more widely dispersed form '.'- Departure from Idraeowra — Cross 

 the Palmer River and reach Henbury— Waterjiool at HeTd)ury — The Bony Bream, Chatoessus horni - 

 Chandler Ran^c and the Ceremonial Stone, Antiarra— Collecting; amongst the Blacks Camped at Henbury— 

 Leave Ilcubury— Eucalyptus samophylla- Larye Spider Webs in the Scrub— Running Waters on the Finke-- 

 Frcsh Water Crayfish — Reach lllamurta in the .Tames Ranue and pass out of the Desert Sandstone Area. 



It was a little to the north of the point at which we were camped that more than 

 thirty years ago Stuart in liis overland journey first struck the river course and 

 named it flie Finke. He must evidently have passed through during a fairly good 

 season, as lie says* — "T sent Kekwick to examine the Creek tliat I saw coming from 

 the north. He says that there is plenty of water to serve our purpose. Tlie creek is 

 very large, with the linest gum trees we have yet seen, all sizes and heights. This 

 seems to he a favourite place for tlie blacks to camp as there are eleven worleys in 

 one encampment. We saw here a nunibei- of new parrots, the black cockatoo and 

 numeious other birds. Tlie creek runs over a space of two miles, coming from the 



west, the l)cd is sandy Tlie creek I have named the Finke after 



William l^^inke, Esq., of Adelaide, my sincere and tried friend and one of the 

 liberal supporters of the diflerent expeditions I have had the honour to lead." 



The Fiidce River or the Larapinta as the natives call it is, d(\spite its size, a 

 typical Central Austi-alian river course. In dry season.s, that is for the greater part 

 of each yeai- and sometimes for more than a year at a time, it may be said to be 

 ])erfe(t]y dry save for one or two deeper pools nlong its'coui'sc acro.ss the Lower 



* Journal of ,7ohn .McDouall Stuart, 18(14, p. 14!). 



