CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. 323 
the youngest of the natives to assist me in driving 
the sheep, leaving the two elder ones with the over- 
seer, to aid in managing the pack-horses. As before 
we took two horses with us, one to carry our provi- 
sions and water, and the other to ride upon in turn, 
the boy however, being young, and incapable of 
much fatigue, the greater portion of the walking 
naturally fell to my share. The day was cool and 
favourable, and we accomplished a stage of twenty- 
four miles ; the afternoon became dark and lowering, 
and I fully expected rain, but towards sunset two or 
three drops fell, and the clouds cleared away. Our 
horses fed tolerably upon the little withered grass 
that we found, but the sheep were too tired to eat, 
and lay down ; we put them therefore into a yard 
we had made for them for the night. 
March 8. — Having turned the sheep out of the 
yard three hours before daylight, I was in hopes they 
would have fed a little before we moved on, but they 
would not touch such food as we had for them, and 
at six I was obliged to proceed onwards ; the morning 
was dark and looked like rain, but as was the case 
yesterday, a drop or two only fell. We made a stage 
to-day of twenty-six miles, through a level country, 
generally open, but near the sea covered with a very 
low dwarf tea-tree, small prickly bushes, and salsolae, 
and having the surface almost every where sprinkled 
over with fresh -water shells ; further from the coast 
the plains extending to the north were very exten- 
sive, level, and divided by belts of scrub or shrubs. 
y 2 
