HORN EXPEDITION — NARRATIVE. 131 



A rodont captured at Alice Spi'ings and (le.scril)efl by Mr. Waito under tlie 

 name of Coni/iirus {Hapa/otis) pcdintciilatiis ha.s also a .sonicwiiat swollen tail, hut 

 in this case it is also ))i'ittle and pieces of it snap off easily when handled : possibly, 

 as Mr. Waite suggests, the breaking oil' may, as in the case of lizaids, be useful in 

 aiding the animal to avoid capture by the loss of p.irt or all of its tail, Init in the 

 specimens yet secured, though it is tlie exception to find one with a perfect tail, 

 there is no appearance of any fresh growth indicating that the lost part can bo 

 replaced by suljsequent growth. 



At the Alice Springs there is still the same general arrangement of the 

 ranges as was met with elsewhere, ))ut owing to the general width of the \'alley 

 through which the Todd flows there is no dilHculty except when the narrow 

 lIea\itreo Gap is filled with water in traversing the ranges from noi'th to south. 

 At this point the McDonnells are about twenty miles in width. The low juml>le 

 of hills flanlcing the main range on the noith are from ten to twenty miles wide. 

 At the southern end of these lies the Telegraph Station by the side of the Todd, 

 which is here of considei'able width, but as usual in the dry winter months its 

 sandy bed contains only a few pools of water. The station is Imilt on a high bank 

 l)y the side of a pool which lies at the base of a pi'ojecting rocky clifl', on which 

 grow fig trees, and on the southern aspect the very pretty white flowering 

 Plundjago (/^. Zci/diiica). 



About a mile and a half to the south of the station the main ridge of the 

 McDonnells is crossed. Just at this point its height is insignilicint, but away to 

 the west high peaks such as Mount Conway can be seen arising from it. Then 

 follows a broad flat valley on which is l^uilt the little township of Stuart. It 

 consists of a few stores and the inevitaljle hotel : camel teams not infreipiently 

 pass up and down the telegrajih line biinging stores to the township, tel(\graph 

 stations and outlying cattle luns, and one or more of them are often to bo seen 

 camped outside the township in the scrub. 



This valley is a continuation of the one which lies at the base of Mount 

 Bonder. To the south it is bounded by a high I'idge — the most prominent feature 

 in this part — of which the highest point is Mount Oillen, the top of the escarpment 

 of which is fully 3,000 feet in height. A bold piecipice, facing nortli, three or 

 foui' hundred feet high is succeeded liy a steep talus. 



Thiough this ridge the Todd Ijreaks in a fine gorge known as Ileavitree Gap ; 

 on the sandy bed, as is usual in the lai'ger gorges, the red gum grows and a few 

 cycails a,re dotted ab'iut on the precipitous clift's. To the south of the gorge comes 



