96 HOUN EXPEDITION — NAKUA'I'IVK. 



Aftoi' cTussinj;' on foot \vn pressed on to Kainaran's Well hoping to find the 

 water fit for tlie hoi'se.s to drink. Another dingo iiad fallen in hut it had been 

 pulled out l)y the lilacks wIki had e\idently visited the spot during oui' a))sence, 

 an<l had tried to hurn the dead bodies which we had pre\iously pulled out. As 

 the hoises were very thirsty S(jnie of them after a considerable amount of persua 

 sion drank a little fiut of a sheet of canvas, tlie odour of which reminded uh for 

 many days of Karna-ran's Well. 



That night we camped amongst the sandhills and had .is on the pi-evious one 

 to sit up and watcli the horses to prevent them from wandering away in search f)f 

 wnter. It was sfi cold that our water bags wei'e frozen solid at daybreak, when 

 we had our breakfast and started oil'. 



The third d.iy brought us at evening to the tleorge Gill Range and the 

 welcome waterhole at Bagot Creek. We were nnieh sti'uck with the fact that 

 during the two weeks wdiicii had elapsed since we were liere tlie water had very 

 considei'ably increased in volume. The only explanation of this can be that, 

 except in very dry seasons, a constant though small supply comes down from the 

 liills and that in comparatively cool weather the evaporation is not great, and 

 therefore though no rain falls the water holes increase in size. 



The next day was a rather hard one iov the horses, as wo had to take tliem 

 over the George Gill Range and down into a valley through which the Petermann 

 Creek Hows. The upper pai't of this valley, which is known as Petermann Pound, 

 forms a large, loughly-circular Hat some three miles in diameter and completely 

 shut in by hills exc(»pt for a small outlet at the eastern end where the creek Hows 

 away. 



To the south it is boundcnl liy the George (Jill Range and to the north l)y the 

 Station Range, already referred to as forming the escarpment on the south side of 

 the Tempo Downs Valley. At the western end of the Pound these two ranges 

 curve over towards one another and unite together. After traversing the flat we 

 ascended the Station Range and at last, after the horses had had a very rough 

 time clambering over and amongst the rocks, we came down int(j what is called 

 Shakes Plain at a point some twenty miles to the west of Tempo Downs .Station, 

 which was i-eached after dusk. 



We found that Mi'. Thornton had gone away, in fact there; was only one wdnte 

 man left in charge and he was by good fortune the cook. Just as before we were 

 most hospitably entertaine(l and our recollection of Tempo Downs will be of the 

 most pleasant kind. 



