EXCURSION TO THE NORTH. 
307 
oilskins to protect our things from the wet, &c. &c. 
These many necessary and important preparations 
kept us all very busy, and the time passed rapidly 
away. On one occasion, I attempted with one of my 
native boys, to explore the country due north of Fow- 
ler’s Bay, but the weather turned out unfavourable, 
the wind being from the north-east, and scorchingly 
hot; I succeeded, however, in penetrating fully 
twenty miles in the direction I had taken, the first ten 
of which was through a dense heavy scrub, of the 
Eucalyptus dumosa, or the tea-tree. Emerging from 
this, we entered an open pretty looking country, 
consisting of grassy plains of great extent, divided 
by belts of shrubs and bush ; as we advanced the 
shrubs became less numerous, the country more 
open, and salsolaceous plants began to occupy the 
place of the grass. Had we been able to continue our 
exploration for another day’s journey, I have no 
doubt, from the change which appeared gradually 
to be taking place as we advanced north, that the 
whole country around would have been one vast 
level open waste, without bush or shrub of any kind, 
and covered by salsolse. I felt strongly convinced, 
we were gradually approaching a similar kind of 
country to that I had been in between Lake Torrens 
and Flinders range ; the only difference was that as 
far as we had yet gone from Fowler’s Bay, the 
elevation of the country did not appear to have been 
diminished ; its average height above the level of the 
sea, I judged to be about 300 feet, and forming doubt- 
x 2 
