Evident, that I should not be able to travel around
its shores, from the total absence of all fresh water, grass, or wood,
whilst the very saline nature of the soil in the surrounding country,
made even the rain water salt, after lying for an hour or two upon the
ground. My only chance of success now lay in the non-termination of
Flinders range, and in the prospect it held out to me, that by continuing
our course along it we might be able to procure grass and water in its
recesses, until we were either taken beyond Lake Torrens, or led to some
practicable opening to the north.
With a heavy heart I turned towards the mountains, and steering N. E. for
ten miles, halted at dark, where there was nothing for our horses to eat
or drink, and we were consequently obliged to tie them up for the night.
We had still a few oats left and gave each horse three pints. A short
time before encamping, I had observed that Lake Torrens was trending more
to the eastward, and that when we halted, it was not at any very great
distance from us.
July 9. - One of our horses having got loose last night, pulled the cork
out of the keg in which was our small stock of the dirty brackish water
we had found yesterday, and rolling the keg over, destroyed its contents;
we were thus deprived of our breakfasts, and consequently had but little
delay in starting. I intended to push on steadily for the hills, but
after travelling six miles came to a puddle in the plains, with tolerable
grass around, and at this I halted for the day, to rest the horses. Our
latitude was 31 degrees 25 minutes S. by an altitude of Arcturus, Mount
Eyre then bearing S. 7 degrees E.
July 10. - Our horses being much recruited I altered our course to-day to
N. 5 degrees E. being the bearing of the most distant range to the
northward, (subsequently named Mount Deception). We passed for the first
ten miles through an open barren country, but found a puddle at which we
watered our horses, and refilled the keg; we then entered heavy ridges of
dense red sand lying nearly north and south, and having small barren
plains between.
There were a few stunted bushes upon the ridges and occasionally some
small straggling pines. Lake Torrens still trended easterly, being
occasionally seen from, and sometimes approaching near to our track.
Emerging from the sandy ridges we again entered upon vast level plains
covered with rhagodia. In the midst of these we came to the bed of a
large dry watercourse, having good grass about it, but containing no
water.
