338 
GEOLOGICAL FORMATION 
sea the country was low and scrubby, with many 
beds of dried up salt lakes ; but neither timber nor 
grass, except the little patch we were encamped at. 
Above the cliffs the appearance of the country was 
the same as we had previously found upon their 
summits, with, perhaps, rather more scrub ; pigeons 
were numerous at the sand-hills, and several flocks 
of red-crested and red-winged cockatoos were hover- 
ing about, watching for an opportunity to feast upon 
the red berries I have before spoken of, and which 
were here found in very great abundance, and of an 
excellent quality. The sand, as usual at our en- 
campments, was a most dreadful annoyance, and 
from which we had rarely any respite. The large 
flies were also very numerous, troublesome and 
irritating tormentors. They literally assailed us by 
hundreds at a time, biting through our clothes, and 
causing us constant employment in endeavouring to 
keep them off. I have counted twenty- three of these 
blood-suckers at one time upon a patch of my trousers 
eight inches square. 
Being now at a part of the cliffs where they 
receded from the sea, and where they had a last 
become accessible, I devoted some time to an exami- 
nation of their geological character. The part that 
I selected was high, steep, and bluff towards the 
sea, which washed its base ; presenting the appear- 
ance described by Captain Flinders, as noted before. 
By crawling and scrambling among the crags, I 
managed, at some risk, to get at these singular 
