238 The American Naturalist. [March, 



to force their way through it. At one place, where many enormous 

 sandstone blocks were scattered over the plain, they found numerous 

 large holes excavated in the boulders in which the natives had stored 

 the bones of their dead. The skeletons were not preserved intact, hut 

 the bones were packed closely together, and large stones covered them, 

 apparently to prevent wild dingoes from scattering them. These curi- 

 ous mausoleums were found along a creek which Mr. Bradshaw named 

 Sepulchre Creek. Here also he found a hitherto unknown fish of fine 

 flavor which he was not able to find in any of the other rivers. He 

 proved that the great desert of inner Australia does not extend thus 

 far to the northwest, for the region through which he passed was 

 watered by scores of creeks and rivers, while tropical vegetation 

 luxuriantly flourished. 



One day the party came to an unexpected impediment. A wall of 

 high hills rose so precipitously that it was impossible to lead the horses 

 up the slope. After hours of search a narrow valley was discovered 

 between whose steep, high sides they traveled for about a mile until 

 they reached the summit of a comparatively level, well-grassed plain. 

 On this plateau they traveled for several days before they descended 

 on the other edge. They found it very difficult to get through the 

 tangle of hills bordering this little plateau on the western side, and 

 for four days they were busy with axes under the glowing heat of the 

 tropical sun cutting a road for the horses. A little beyond they 

 ascended a mountain about 1,500 feet high, from which a very fine 

 prospect extended from all directions. 



On all sides stretched away the hills of lesser elevation, covered to 

 their tops with thick growing grass, while as far as the eye could reach 

 could be seen a great abundance of lagoons and watercourses fringed 

 with papyrus and palms. It was a fine tropical prospect and very 

 different from the semi-arid region which must begin not a great dis- 

 tance to the southeast. 



Mr. Bradshaw was particularly struck with the work of- white ants 

 in the western part of the region he traversed. In one place, for 

 instance, he d with a diameter of abou 



three feet and nearly ten feet in height. It stood in the middle of an 

 enormous rock, at least fortyfeet from the nearest bit of soil. * 

 the material for this structure must have been carried by these little 



As the party neared the Prince Regent River the country became 

 more difficult to traverse on account of the steep hills, the grea 

 blocks of porphyry and sandstone in their way, and the tall grass- 



