Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia By Eyre, Edward John
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As We Advanced, The Hills Inclined Considerably To The
Eastward, Gradually Becoming Less Elevated, Until, In Latitude 29 Degrees
20
Minutes S., they ceased altogether, and we found ourselves in a very
low and level country, consisting of large stony
Plains, varied
occasionally by sand; and the whole having evidently been subject to
recent and extensive inundation. These plains are destitute of water,
grass, and timber, and have only a few salsolaceous plants growing upon
them; whilst their surface, whether stony or sandy, is quite smooth and
even, as if washed so by the action of the water. Throughout this level
tract of country were interspersed, in various directions, many small
flat-topped elevations, varying in height from 50 to 300 feet, and almost
invariably exhibiting precipitous banks. These elevations are composed
almost wholly of a chalky substance, coated over on the upper surface by
stones, or a sandy soil, and present the appearance of having formed a
table land that has been washed to pieces by the violent action of water,
and of which these fragments now only remain. Upon forcing a way through
this dreary region, in three different directions, I found that the whole
of the low country round the termination of Flinders range, was
completely surrounded by Lake Torrens, which, commencing not far from the
head of Spencer's Gulf, takes a circuitous course of fully 400 miles, of
an apparent breadth of from twenty to thirty miles, following the sweep
of Flinders range, and almost encircling it in the form of a horse shoe.
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