COASTS OF AUSTRALIA 
151 
growth and habit ; they were a,t this time covered 
with flowers and ripe fruit ; but so painful was it 
to the eyes and senses to remain for a moment 
stationary in this heated valley, that whilst I ga- 
thered a quantity of the seeds of this truly rich 
plant, my servant was obliged to hurry away to 
a cooler air on the ridge, which we had again 
nearly reached ; and but for this fine plant, and 
the no less conspicuous blue-flowered sccevola 
nitida, Br. the whole scene would have deeply 
impressed us with all the horrors that such ex- 
tremes of aridity are naturally calculated to 
excite. 
Upon again reaching the ridge, whose mode- 
rated temperature required our care to avoid suf- 
fering from the sudden transition, we came to the 
granite, on whose bare surface I found a pros- 
trate specimen of bcEchea^ remarkable for the re- 
gularity of its decussate leaves, which I have 
designated in my list as b, saxkola. Continuing 
to the extremity of the ridge, I was much sur- 
prised to find we had already attained the highest 
point of the range, and to observe another ex- 
panse, or extensive cavity, of bare white sand 
below us, to the S.E., the termination of which 
we afterwards found to be the Bald Head, of 
Captain Vancouver. This part is of remarkable 
appearance from seaward, having on either side 
