402 
JOURNEY ACROSS THE 
[1813. 
curious, they had a dull gloomy aspect. One of 
them had a flat rock, level with the surface of the 
ground, running out from its west end for about a 
quarter of a mile — it was between thirty and forty 
yards wide, and resembled a pavement of one stone. 
The sand in the neighbourhood was red, producing 
no grass, but only small, half withered bushes here 
and there. We travelled till midnight, which was as 
cold as a December niofht in Endand. We halted where 
there was neither water, nor grass, nor wood to burn ; 
for in consequence of ridges of rocks running up the 
country from the very edge of the Great River, we 
were obliged to travel considerably south of it. After 
w^orship we all hastened to go to sleep the best way we 
could, without any supper. Thermometer at noon, 86. 
Travelling W. 
7th. We proceeded forward at seven A.M. There 
was a chain of hills about ten miles to our right, or 
north, of about thirty miles in extent, which had the 
appearance of a great wall, indeed it reminded us of 
the great wall in China. In the morning at sun-rise, 
the thermometer stood as low as 46, and at noon 66, 
which was extremely favourable to our cattle, as we 
were obliged to continue until two P.M. pushing 
forward to water, where we halted in a sandy place 
at the foot of what I called the Haldanean Mountains. 
Here we had a new operation to perform, viz. to dig 
for water in the dry bed of a river, when we found 
plenty for ourselves, about five feet under the surface 
of the sand. It appeared to be a stream which ran 
