EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 51 



Thursday, June 21th. — Camp No. 56. Bar. 28-600in., ther. 31°. 

 — Returned upon my outgoing tracks for one mile. I then started 

 upon a bearing of N. 80° W. In three miles reached a saltbush 

 plain with claypans and grass. I obtained a good view of a portion 

 of the lake, which is here two miles wide. Continued through oak 

 forests with occasional clumps of white srum trees, the sandhills 

 running irregularly, but not of any great height. There were 

 some large patches of ground that the blacks had burnt, and upon 

 these we travelled whenever opportunity offered, for it is an im- 

 mense relief to the camels to be off the spinifex if only for a few 

 yards. At nine miles the west extremity of Long's Range was 

 observed, and to avoid meeting with the arms of the lake, that 

 extend nearly to its foot, I turned upon a bearing of N. 65° W. for 

 seven miles. At this point we came upon a flat saltbush country, 

 with grass, mulga, and claypans. Turned N. 56° E. for three miles, 

 and hit our outgoing tracks near the foot of Mount Unapproachable. 

 It was noticed that the tracks of four blacks had our been on trail, 

 but they only continued there a short distance. The last seen of 

 their tracks they were evidently making for the hills. Camped at 

 a claypan at the extreme western end of the lake. Bar. 28"625in., 

 ther. 64° at 5 p.m. 



Friday, June 28th.— Camp No. 57; S. latitude 24° 39' 16". 

 Bar. 28*5 10in., ther. 46°. — The camels all drank well last night, and 

 as there was abundance of feed for them they looked very well 

 when brought up for duty. I intend to follow down the south 

 shore of the lake to-day, so followed my tracks for three miles to 

 the point where we first struck the lake, the camels marched grandly 

 along upon the clear flat clean ground upon the shore of the lake. 

 I then took up a course of S. 52° E., which I thought would allow 

 of my continuing if not upon the shore at any rate within sight of 

 it, with some few diversions to avoid certain inlets. This continued 

 for eight miles. I was anxious to hug the lake as close as possible, 

 for the spinifex sandhills to the south I could see were rather 

 alarming. After rounding rather a deep inlet, I turned S. 42° E. 

 I kept pretty nearly upon this course for five miles, but was con- 

 tinually being turned by the irregularities of the shore line, and 

 once or twice the camels were bogged ; so turned east, which 

 course took me into very heavy sandhills, indeed — hills and hollows 

 alike covered with white gum tiees, quite a forest. Continued for 

 four miles, and then turned north-east for the shore of the lake, 

 which I reached in one mile. Followed down the lake for half a 

 mile and camped, after a tedious heavy day's work for the camels. 

 It is worthy of remark that while the north shore of this lake opens 

 out into rather extensive flats of saltbush, cotton-bush, grass, clay- 

 pans, and mulga, the south shore is bounded by high sandhills of 

 the most forbidding character, entirely destitute of other grass than 

 spinifex, and without any surface of clay, which, forming into 

 shallow pools, would allow water to accumulate. The white gum 



