48 CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN 



bearing N. 74° E.. that I had not observed before ; either I had 

 not noticed it, or from unfavorable conditions of the atmosphere 

 it was not in sight, and as Mr. Giles' position of Mt. Unapproach- 

 able was not an observed one, it is quite possible this may be it. I 

 shall take a course to-morrow a little south of this hill, which 

 must take me to the lake. Bar. 28 - 600in., ther. 68° at 5 p.m. 



Saturday, June 22nd. — Camp No. 52. Bar. 28-63in., ther., 42°. 

 Light clouds, cold east wind. — Started away at 8*30 on a bearing 

 of 90°. Passed through mulga scrub in broad sandy flats between 

 sandhills, the spinifex not being so thick as we have been ac- 

 customed to lately. This soon gave out, and > dwarf mallee was 

 passed through. I noticed a few white gums on the sandhills at 

 midday, and we soon entered into an undulating sandy country, 

 which was quite a forest of those gum and oak trees, very pleasing 

 indeed to the eye, calling to mind the forest country of many parts 

 of Victoria, the waving stems of the spinifex being well taken for 

 pasture. But there was no sign whatever of animal life, and, 

 to make it still worse, it is a country evidently avoided by the 

 blacks, for though we have not seen any during the whole journey 

 we are quite sensible of their proximity at times ; but no sign of a 

 piece of burnt ground has been passed during the day. The sand- 

 hills in the afternoon were distressing to the camels and the 

 spinifex seemed matted together. There is absolutely nothing 

 whatever but this and the white gums, and after a long day's 

 march it is hard to have to tie the camels up all night with neither 

 food or water, but this has been their fate so very frequently upon 

 their journey that they take it as a matter of course. Travelled 

 twenty-one miles over such country that I wish never to meet again. 

 Bar. 28-610in., ther. 56° at 5 p.m. 



Sunday, June 2Srd. — Camp No. 53 ; latitude 24° 30' 43". Bar. 

 28-650in., ther. 36°. — The night was cold and I noticed a slight 

 dew this morning. Started at 8 - 45 upon a bearing of 90° and 

 soon came to a small salt pan; turned one mile N.E to avoid this 

 and continued on our course. At this point the sandhills became 

 very much higher and running into each other in a confused and 

 irregular manner and covered with white gums and oaks, at eight 

 miles I ascended a high sandhill and observed an extensive tract of 

 salt lake running easterly and westerly ; this, however, appeared of 

 no width, not exceeding a mile at its widest part, and as I wished 

 to deal with its western extremity I turned the caravan in that 

 direction. Upon the north side of the salt lake was a low line of 

 hills of peculiar appearance, having either been recently burnt by 

 the blacks, or else they are masses of bare red rock. I now turned 

 N. 15° W., travelled over spinifex sandhills for one and a half miles 

 and reached the shore of the lake, the width was only a few 

 chains, but I noticed a long wide arm extending northerly towards 

 the range. Travelled along the south shore for two miles west, 

 which brought us to the west extremity of the lake, turned N. 

 25° W. one and a half miles, still keeping close to the lake, then 



