HORN EXPEDITION — NARRATIVE. 129 



At Brinkley Rlutl' we liacl heon surprisod to soe the tracks of Mr. Watt's 

 paity I'eturning soutliward.g, .so it was evidont that lie liad not bocn ahlo to make 

 his way acros.s the hills to the Burt Plains. We learned sub.sequently that he had 

 attempted to cross more to the westward, hut as he and the two prospectors witli 

 liim were travelling with only one baggage camel to carry provisions the likelihoorl 

 of striking tiie Burt Plain at a long distance from any water supply Iiad very 

 wisely caused them to turn soutli again into the ranges. Tiiey had followed down 

 the Hugh under Brinkley BlulT to the water-hole liy which we had first seen tlieir 

 tracks and then had struck eastward to the south of the main range and so had 

 readied Alice Springs. 



Our camp on the plain was at a height of "21 So feet and the night as usual 

 was very cold. All the next day we travelled eastwards along the liase of tlie 

 hills through the open scrub. The gi'ound was covered with dried up yellow grass 

 and the scrub of Mulga, Cassias, Santalum and gum trees was as monotonous as 

 usual. Every now and again a small gum creek ran out for a short distance away 

 from the hills, but everything was perfectly dry except at one spot (Painta .Sjn-ings) 

 wliere there was a small soakage with one or two small water-pools in which we 

 secured a few golden-spotted water beetles. 



A well has been sunk here by the side of which a large date palm is growing 

 and the relics of feeding troughs show that it has once ])een used as a watering 

 place for one of the outlying cattle runs. This spot .and the Missionary Station at 

 Hermannsburg were the only two at which we saw the Date Palm, though a 

 considerable number of seeds have been planted by diil'erent explorers in what 

 appeared to them to be suitable spots. 



At one spot we came across a small patch of the mound nests of what are 

 called the meridian or compass ants. These arc found in other parts of Australia 

 such as near Cape York and Port Darwin and the curious feature about them is 

 that the mound, which is three or four or even five feet high, is ilattened fiom 

 side to side in such a way that the broad sides face east and west, and the narrow 

 ends north and south. As it tapers upwards it has, seen from the north or south, 

 a wedge shape. There were altogether perhaps a hundred of these occupying half 

 an acre of ground and their shape and bright red colour render them very stiiking 

 objects. Unfortunately we met with them in the middle of a long march when 

 it was quite impossible to stop and examine them and my hope that we should 

 afterwards meet with others in similar country was not realized. They are made 

 and occupied by a species of Termite or white ant and the only other white ant 

 mounds which we saw were a few small, grey-coloured ones about eighteen inches 

 high on some flats near Lake Amadeus. 



