Interior of New Holland. 
335 
horses, and sat down on a sloping bank, watching the poor 
animals feeding around the margin of the water. 
I had found the country so dry, and the creek we had thus dis¬ 
covered was so fine a feature, that I hesitated pushing any farther 
to the north, but thought of tracing the creek to the hills, from 
which I had no doubt it came, although the direction of the belt 
of trees was somewhat to the south of east. In the afternoon, 
however, we had a thunder-storm that lasted, with some violence, 
for more than half an hour, and left a quantity of surface water 
in the hollows on the plains. Hoping that if I now pushed on 
into the interior I might reach some other creek before the surface 
water should be wholly evaporated, and knowing that I could 
prosecute my examination of the creek when I returned, I, the 
next morning, crossed it, and taking a course due north, traversed 
plains of light sandy soil, and somewhat more elevated than the 
flooded plains, for thirty-six miles, when I halted at a small puddle 
of rain water for the night, having kept the creek almost all day 
on my left. Here we dug our first well to collect the water as 
before, but there was so little that I did not anticipate any advan¬ 
tage from this labor. On the following morning we rode for about 
eight miles over a similar country, when the sand dunes once 
more made their appearance, and we kept on the summit of one 
for more than six miles, having the dry beds of salt lagoons on 
either side of us. Riding on till after sunset, we at length came 
to the termination of the ridge, and saw a large white plain before 
us, which I did not dare to cross in that uncertain light. I 
therefore halted, and by the light of the moon we dug our second 
well at this place. The plain which had appeared of such 
doubtful character, was of firm surface, although it was evidently 
soft at times. From it we again ascended sandy ridges, and rode 
along them till noon, when we came to a pretty lake about fifteen 
miles in circumference. It was evidently very shallow, from the 
line of poles standing in it used by the natives for taking wild 
fowl; but I was doubtful as to the quality of tlie water. 
Descending to it, we found it half salt and half fresh, but putrid, 
and wholly unfit to drink. The bottom was soft sand and mud, 
and the smell from the lake was very offensive; nor could we by 
