OF THE COUNTRY - FIND WATER - THE SCOTT - REJOIN
THE PARTY - WATER ALL USED AT DEPOT - EMBARRASSING CIRCUMSTANCES - REMOVE TO
THE SCOTT - RECONNOITRE IN ADVANCE - BARREN COUNTRY - TABLE TOPPED
ELEVATIONS - INDICATIONS OF THE VIOLENT ACTION OF WATER - MEET
NATIVES - REACH LAKE TORRENS - THE WATER SALT - OBLIGED TO RETURN - ARRIVAL
AT DEPOT - HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE NATIVES.
July 25. - To-DAY we broke up the camp, and commenced our labours in
earnest, the men and the horses having had a rest of three weeks; the
latter were in splendid condition and spirits, having eaten twenty-five
bushels of oats, which had been sent up in the WATERWITCH. Every thing
had been well and conveniently arranged, and the whole moved on with an
order and regularity that was very gratifying.
I was very ill at starting, and remained so for some days after, but as I
had already been twice over the ground, and as my native boy was able to
act as guide to the party, my indisposition was not of so much
consequence as it would have been under other circumstances. At times I
was quite incapable of any exertion, and could not attend to any thing,
being hardly able to sit upon my horse for half an hour together. From
the 25th to the evening of the 30th, we were engaged in travelling from
Mount Arden to Depot Pool, by the same line of route by which myself and
the native boy had returned from our exploration. In our progress we
noticed many traces of natives around us, and saw many native fires among
the hills; the people themselves did not, however, appear.
By a little trouble in examining the watercourses before encamping, we
were generally able to procure water for our horses, at some distance
among the hills; and we were usually fortunate enough to obtain tolerable
food for them also. The grass, it is true, was generally scanty, or dry;
but we found a succulent plant of the geranium tribe, bearing a small
blue flower, and growing where the channels of the watercourses spread
out in the plains, in the greatest abundance, and in the wildest
luxuriance; of this the horses were extremely fond, and it appeared to
keep them in good condition and spirits.
July 30. - The geological formation of the country we had passed through,
consisted in the higher ranges of an argillaceous rock, of quartz, or of
ironstone. Upon some of the hills the small loose stones had a vitrified
appearance - in others they looked like the scoria of a furnace, and
appeared to be of volcanic origin, but nowhere did I observe the
appearance of anything like a crater. In the lower or front hills the
rock was argillaceous, of a hard slaty nature, and inclined at an angle
of about 45 degrees from the horizontal.
