434 
Miscellanea. 
down, we found that at about a mile it spread over an immense 
flat. With some difficulty we recovered its channel again, and 
traced it for about eight miles through a narrow but well-wooded 
valley; its general course having led us somewhat to the south¬ 
ward of west. At eight miles, it appeared suddenly to termi¬ 
nate against an embankment of white clay and sanef. There was, 
however, a gap in this embankment, thus -- 
over which, it immediately struck me, the superfluous waters are 
carried off. On ascending this embankment, we saw beneath us 
a beautiful enclosure of about seven miles in circumference, 
fenced in by this bank. It was studded with fine trees, and 
covered with grass. By a reference to the chart, our position, as 
far as I can lay it down from rough bearings, being in lat. 28° 
6' 30", and in long. 140° 44': His Excellency will observe that 
we had again entered the province; and it may be worthy of 
remark, that the richest piece of land we have found has been 
within its boundaries. It is into this enclosure that the creek 
falls; and having satisfied myself that it also terminates in it, I 
rode on to the N. W.; but I was driven back from the want of 
water, and because neither could my men or horses bear up 
against the intense heat to which we were exposed. Flood 
complained that the crown of his head was burning, and the 
animals drooped as if overcome by extreme drowsiness. I stopped 
therefore, to take shelter under a hakea bush until the heat of 
the day should have subsided, and then returned to the water 
we had left in the morning, and the next day regained the hills. 
It may give His Excellency some idea of the heat to which we 
were exposed, when I assure you that I found the thermometer 
which I had left with Joseph, and which was fixed in the shade 
of a large tree, four feet from the ground, stationary at 135° of 
Fahrenheit at half-past two p m., and that in the direct rays of 
the sun it rose to 157°. It had, on a former occasion, when 
Mr. Browne was with me, stood at 132° in the shade, and 153° 
in the sun. 
I returned from this excursion with the full conviction on my 
mind, that I had twice been within fifty, perhaps thirty, miles of 
an inland sea. It was, in truth, impossible that such a country 
