VII PLANS AND PREPARATIONS 85 
up, the grass was scanty, and the dust so great that 
I am sure we must have already swallowed more 
than the proverbial peck on this journey. In the 
early spring the country is very different : yellow 
wattles mark the line of most of the rivers, the earth 
is carpeted with patches of bright-coloured everlastings ; 
here and there, through the long vistas of Eucalyptus 
stands a coral-tree, and the brilliant yellow blossoms 
of the cotton bush and tufted grass trees send up their 
tall, sentinel-like spears. 
Now towards the end of a long, dry summer every- 
thing languished, and only the deafening whirr of locusts^ 
whose perpetual voices seem to carry a sound of heat 
and headache with them, filled the sultry silence. We 
had not yet come to our journey's end. The flowers 
that I had come in search of were not to be found near 
Geoi^etown, but many miles out towards the Gregory 
Range, which was off the track of civilisation, and this 
meant camping out There was no time to be lost in 
making our preparations; an extra man must be found, 
two pack-horses, stores, etc. Two small tents were soon 
procured from a man on the outskirts of the town ; Joe 
got the horses, and we repaired to a store where I laid 
in the usual provisions. These housekeeping details 
consisted of two cooking utensils, blankets, tea, sugar, 
biscuits, rice, flour, salt, butter, matches, water- bags, 
sardines, tinned meats, condensed milk (for I can't 
manage tea without it), soap, and candles ; the 
other odds and ends we hired from the hotel. It 
was a g^at start, as we left at two next day, with an 
open-mouthed crowd to witness our departure, and make 
foreboding remarks on probable misfortunes which 
awaited us. 
I must say that the joys of planning my first cam- 
paign were considerably marred by the fact that Mrs. S» 
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