REACH THE CASTLEREACH RVVER. 
119 
into cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear 
these unfortunate creatures were reduced to the last ex- 
tremity, and, being unable to procure any other nourishment, 
had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. 
The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of sur- 
face. Water evidently lodges and continues on them long 
after a fall of rain, and in wet seasons they must, I should 
imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost impassable. 
On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed 
in no material point from that already described. We 
stopped at 10 a. m. under some brush, in the centre of a 
large plain, from which Arbuthnot’s range bore S.84E. dis- 
tant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather 
crossed, those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as 
being under water and covered with reeds, in 1817. They 
now bore a very different appearance, being firm and dry. 
The soil was in general good, and covered with forest grass 
and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or 
the signs of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with 
plains in the interior, they were of too even surface, as I 
have so lately remarked, to admit of the waters running 
quickly off them ; and no doubt, when they became satu- 
rated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much 
impede the movements of an expedition. 
We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p. m., and although 
its channel could not have been less than 130 yards in 
breadth, there was apparently not a drop of water in it. 
Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds ; amid the latter. 
