JCNE.] 
DESCRIPTION OF SCENERY. 
95 
rock, and was so scanty that a single ox could 
have drank the whole of it. But there having 
been a hoar frost during the night, the oxen did 
not seem thirsty. At half past nine a.m. we 
proceeded on our journey, travelling due west, 
over sand, till noon, when we came to a large 
hollow place, in the middle of which was a small 
lake of v/ater. This invited us to halt, and here 
our oxen had a plentiful supply of excellent 
water, which the surrounding ground seemed 
formed for collecting, being in the shape of an 
immense basin. While resting on the borders of 
this lake, we seemed to be sequestered from 
the whole world, nothing being seen from it, but 
the adjacent elevated ground. Like the pre- 
ceding day not a cloud appeared, and the Therm, 
stood at 56, so that we did not erect the tent, 
but dined in the open air. At two p. m. we left 
the basin, and travelled over red sand, amidst 
mimosas, on which we observed many of those 
large nests formerly mentioned, inhabited by a 
considerable number of birds. The smallest of 
these nests seemed larger than a sack of corn. 
On approaching the mountains of Turreehey, 
they appeared to extend in the form of a 
crescent for about ten or twelve miles from north 
to south. Their forms were various and pic- 
turesque, and being surrounded by an immense 
plain, they resembled an island in the ocean. 
After sunset [half past five p. m.] we halted amon.^ 
