Il01i>f KXPEDITION — NARK ATI VH. 



85 



Porcupine i^f.iss grow so closely togetlier tliat it is impossible for horses or eaiiiels 

 tr,i\x'lliii," tlirougli them to avoid having their legs severely irritated hy the pointed 

 leaves, hut the sandy tra.ets which they inhalnt ar(! destitute of water. 



/ 





PoKCuriNE Grass (Triudia putigcns). 



It was with no little relief and pleasure, that after traversing more than 

 thirty miles of sandhills since leaving Lake Ainadeus in the morning, we reached 

 the top of the last one and saw the Rock not far away. 



Ayers Rock is probably one of tlie most striking objects in Central Australia. 

 From where we stood the level scrub stretched away monotonously east, west and 

 south to the horizon. Above the yellow sand and dull green Mulga rose the 

 Rock — a huge dome-shaped monolitli, brilliant Venetian red in colour. A mile in 

 length, with its sides rising piecipitously to a height of eleven hundred feet above 

 the plain,* it stands out in lonely grandeur against tiie clear sky. Its otherwise 

 smooth sides are furrowed by <leep lines of rounded holes rising in tiers one above 

 the other and looking as if they had been hollowed out by a series of great 

 cascades down which for many centuries the water in the rain seasons must have 

 })oured in torrents from the smooth dome-shaped summit. 



We rode on to its base and camped in a deep chasm in the western face by 

 the side of a small water-hole. After three days' travelling without water over 

 heavy Porcupine sandhills it was no small pleasure to watch the horses drink their 

 fill, and it was also somewhat of a relief to tind that there ivas water and that we 

 could ourselves ati'ord to drink without stint. To fully appreciate a wash also one 



- Its total liuight abovu sea le\ el is 2500 feot. 



