61 
SOMOWLAIR SE Ole OIWURIN ANIL, 
The expedition left Oodnadatta, the terminus of the Great 
Northern Railway, on the 5th of May, 1894. Apart from Mr. 
Horn and myself, the party then consisted of four scientists, who 
represented the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, 
and collectively the mterests of anthropology, biology, botany, 
geology, ethnology, meteorology, paleontology, and petrology; 
two naturalists and collectors; four camel-drivers, a cook, and a 
black boy. We set out with twenty-three camels (twelve pack, 
nine riding, and two buggy camels) and two horses. The time at 
our disposal was limited to three months, the University professors 
not being able to be away for a longer period from the institutions 
with which they are associated. 
Travelling northward, near the transcontinental telegraph line, 
we arrived at the Goyder river on the 14th of May. Meantime we 
obtained an additional camel at Charlotte Waters. The journeying 
till the Goyder was reached had to be done by easy stages, the 
distance covered averaging but seventeen miles a day. ‘This was 
caused by the low condition of the camels, which made anything 
like rapid movement utterly impossible. The country traversed 
up to this point comprised chiefly stony undulating plains, wofully 
arid and desolate, and, except for a few salsolaceous plants, com- 
pletely devoid of vegetation. Not long before we passed through it 
this part of South Australia had been visited by a heavy rainfall ; 
consequently we had expected to find it admirably suited to scien- 
tific examination, but almost the contrary proved to be the case. 
A succession of dry seasons previously had resulted in a great 
scarcity of animal and vegetable life, and our collections suffered 
accordingly. 
From the Goyder a five days’ excursion to the west was made by 
a detachment of the party. This section was absent from the main 
caravan for five days, travelling during that time a distance of 145 
miles. Numerous tent-shaped hills and ranges were discovered 
and correctly mapped. About fifty miles of the country covered 
consisted of mulga scrub (Acacia aneura/, which was well grassed, 
the remainder being red sandridges densely overgrown with porcu- 
pine. In places where the latter had been burnt by the natives 
good feed was plentiful, indicating that the whole of this country 
could be made available for stock. Only one small sand soakage 
water was found throughout the whole of the trip, which termi- 
nated at Engoordina, on the Finke river. Here the two branches 
