nORN RXPEDITION NARRATIVE. 49 



US WO mctwutvi] tlioni in suocossion — for, nnfni-tunntoly, out" eonrso lay iicaily at 

 n'ffht aiifflos to thoir If>nt;tli — we could soo the Pillar standiiiff out against tlio sky 

 ahovo the liills wliicii looked like great waves of sand piled up one hehind the other. 



We h;id now amongst these sandhills come into the region of the " Desert 

 Oak" {Casuarina Decaisiieana). Some of them reach a height of forty or fifty feet, 

 and, growing either singly or in chimps, form a striking feature amongst the thin 

 spar.se scrub (see Plate 4). Evidently a shower of rain must have fallen recently, 

 as there were more flowers about than usual. The shrubs of Eremophilas, Acacias 

 and Ca.ssias were bright with purph^ and yellow flowers, and on the ground were 

 exceptionally line white, pink and purple ))lossoms of Ptilotus, and patches of white 

 and yellow Helichrysum picked out with the little blue flowers of Crunonia. 



The " Desert Oaks " with their pendant, wiry twigs, which take the place of 

 leaves, have a stiangely weird appearance. The older trees, as shown in the illus- 

 tration, have a main trunk with a rough bark rising to a height of perhaps twenty 

 or even thirty feet at which point a large number of strongly developed branches 

 are given oflT. The younger' ones resemble nothing so nnich as large funeral plumes. 

 Their outlines seen under a Ijlazing sun are indistinct, and they give to the whole 

 scene a curious eflect of being "out of focus." 



Some idea of the size and extent of the sandhills may be gained from the fact 

 that in nine miles traverse we were continuously passing up tlu^ gradual southern 

 slope and down the steep northern face, then across a short level flat on to the 

 slope of another, and that in this distance we crossed .some thirty-five. 



At length we came to a small level stretch of land from which the pillar rises. 

 Tt has the form of a tall column placed on a broad pedestal. The latter has a 

 circumference of about five hundred yard.s, and a height of one hundred feet, 

 the column itself is nearly seventy feet high, and is roughly oblong in section, 

 one side measuring about twenty-five, and the other about fifteen yards in length. 



The whole is composed of a friable sandstone capped with a layer of the same 

 chalcedonized sandstone which forms the thin uppermost layer of all the flat- 

 topped, Desert Sandstone hills, and has been the means of protecting the softer 

 rock beneath. At one time the whole of the country must have been at the level 

 of the top of the pillar ; now all save this solitary column and a few remarkable 

 turret-like peaks, forming what is called Castle Hill, a short distance aw.ay to the 

 north, has been worn aw.ay, and the pillar stands solitai-y amongst the samlhills 

 (Plate fi). 



*4 



