70 
PROGRESSIVE CHANGE IN 
proceed any further, owing to the large stones and 
rocks that interposed themselves. Retracing my 
steps, therefore, for a mile or two, to a little grass 
I had observed as I passed by, I bivouacked for 
the night, being, as well as the horses, quite 
knocked up. The native boy, who accompanied 
me, was equally fatigued ; and we were both lame 
from walking across so rugged a country, over a 
great portion of which we found it quite impracti- 
cable to ride. Our stage could not have been less 
than twenty-five or twenty-six miles during the 
day, yet we had not met with a drop of water, even 
though we had high ranges, large watercourses, 
and huge gum-trees on every side of us. As usual, 
the traces of high floods were numerous ; and the 
channels of these watercourses, confined as they are 
by precipitous ranges, must, at times, be filled by 
rapid and overwhelming torrents, which would 
collect there after heavy rains. 
Some great progressive change appears to be 
taking place in the climate and seasons of this part 
of the country, as, in many of the watercourses, we 
found all the gum-trees either dying or dead, with- 
out any young trees growing up to replace them. 
The moisture which had promoted their growth, 
and brought them to maturity, existed no longer ; 
and in many places, only the wreck of noble trees 
remained to indicate to the traveller what once had 
been the character of this now arid region. In other 
watercourses the gum-trees were still green and 
