44 CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN 



of country as this that the traveller must push his way, for there 

 is absolutely nothing whatever that animals can eat. Continued 

 on this course for eight miles, and was distant from what I take to 

 be Blood's Range, of Giles, about ten miles, and it was quite 

 evident that no lake, or arm of one, lay between us. At this point 

 I turned S. 50° E. The same country continued on this bearing, 

 but the sandhills were farther apart and running regularly east 

 and west, with wide valleys between them, in which were occa- 

 sional clumps of dense mulga scrub. Camped at 5 p.m., having 

 travelled twenty miles. There was but little feed here for the 

 camels, so at dusk they were tied up for the night. The night set 

 in dark with heavy clouds banking up from the west, and, most 

 strange for this time of the year, heavy thunder and very vivid 

 lightning. Had the saddles stacked and under the tarpaulins. 

 No timber being at hand, I could not put up my tent. Bar. 

 28-325in., ther. 61° at 5 p.m. 



Saturday, June \blh. — Camp No. 48; S. latitude 24° 33' 21", 

 var. 0° 26'. Bar. 28 , 400in., ther. 52°. — Heavy rain commenced 

 at 8 o'clock last night, and continued with great violence till 3 

 a.m. this morning, violent squalls of wind and rain being followed 

 at intervals by steady soaking rain. My companions managed to 

 secrete themselves among the saddles under the tarpaulin, but, 

 this being so thin and worn, it offered but indifferent shelter ; the 

 fire was beaten out, and I passed a very wretched night. At 3 

 a.m. I rolled myself up in a blanket and slept till dawn, when I 

 let the camels go for an hour or two. We were all wet through ; 

 but, a fire being lit and a pot of tea passed round, we were soon in 

 better spirits. An idea of this rainfall may be gathered from the 

 fact that a 2-lb. meat tin was quite two-thirds full this morning, 

 and a tin dish more than half full. At 9'15 we started away on 

 a bearing of 90°. At two and a half miles turned S. 75° E. to 

 examine a peculiar and abrupt outcrop of rock. Travelling over 

 spinif ex and oak sandhills with a bald stony hill to the north of us. 

 Continued on this course for two miles, and then turned N. 70° E. 

 for the south side of the rock, which we reached in seven and a 

 half miles from our last camp. Billy went on foot to examine the 

 north side, while I continued on the south side. In a quarter 

 of a mile reached some old native encampments, where there 

 was a small stream of water running for a few yards into the 

 sands. These, of course, were the result of last night's rainfall- 

 I decided to stay, for the camels required rest and all our belong, 

 ings wanted drying. There is fairly good feed here for camels, and 

 some rough grass for horses ; but the area of such is small. Billy 

 returned from his ramble round the rock, and reports having found 

 a rock reservoir of considerable dimensions. Later in the day he 

 managed to bag a brace of rock wallaby. Any such small game 

 help to eke out our now slender supply of meat. Bar. 28*350in., 

 ther. 54° at 5 p.m. 



