191 
Interior of New Holland. 
examine the country reported by Mr. Poole. Extreme heat had 
succeeded the cold rain we had had, and the thermometer now 
ranged between 100 and 113 in the shade—nearly double what 
it had been a few days before. On the 21st I left the camp with 
Mr. Browne, two men, and Topar, the same native I have already 
mentioned. Before I take a final leave of the Darling, however, 
which we must now be considered to have done, I would observe 
that I was not the first who had gained the banks of the Willio- 
rara, my worthy friend Mr. Eyre having been there before me, 
although unconscious of the fact. Nadbuck, however, who ac¬ 
companied him, showed us the tracks of his horses, and told us 
that the channel was then dry. 
The day preceding that of our departure from the camp was 
one of most terrific heat, but the succeeding morning proved cool 
and agreeable. At a quarter of a mile from the camp, we crossed 
the little ridge which separates the Lakes of Cawndilla and Menan- 
diche, and descended into the flats of the latter, whence we soon 
rose to plains of great extent, partly intersected by brush, but 
for the most part open. These we crossed on a course of 157° 
to the west of south. Their soil was a mixture of red sand and 
clay; nor were they in their character and productions unlike 
the plains of Adelaide, there being no deficiency of grass upon 
them, although salsolaceous plants were mixed with it. The 
trees were low, and consisted of a new casuarina and a new 
species of capparis, a fine specimen of which I had previously 
found in a scrub near Oxley’s Table-land. At about nine miles, 
we changed our course to 135° to the W. of S., and continued 
upon it for the remainder of the day. The further we advanced, 
the worse the country became, covered with atriplex and rha- 
godia, and the plains had large patches of bare red ground, the 
surfaces of which were baked and dry. At twenty-six miles, we 
ascended a sand-hill, from which we descended to and crossed a 
creek, with a dry and gravelly bed, coming from the hills, and 
apparently falling into the low country to the westward. After 
crossing the creek, we still held our course of 135° to the W. of 
S. for a bluff in the range, towards which we were rapidly 
approaching, and at 4?, miles were conducted by our guide to a 
