nd directions. The day being
very hot and the camels tired from travelling over the earthy
plains, which by-the-by are not nearly so bad as those at the head
of Cooper's Creek, we camped at one P.M., having traced the creek
up about five miles, not counting the bends. For the whole of this
distance we found not a break or interruption of water, which
appears to be very deep; the banks are from twenty to thirty feet
above the water, and very steep; they are clothed near the water's
edge with mint and other weeds, and on the top of each side there
is a belt of box trees and various shrubs. The lower part of the
creek is bounded towards the north by a high red sand ridge, and on
the south side is an extensive plain, intersected by numerous
watercourses, which drain off the water in flood-time. The greater
portion of the plain is at present very bare, but the stalks of dry
grass show that after rain or floods there will be a good crop on
the harder and well drained portion; but I believe the loose earthy
portion supports no vegetation at any time. The inclination of the
ground from the edge of the creek-bank towards the plain is in many
places very considerable; this I should take to indicate that the
flooding is or has been at one time both frequent and regular.

Wednesday, 26th December, 1860.--We started at five A.M., following
up the creek from point to point of the bends. Its general course
was at first north-by-west, but at about six miles, the sand ridge
on the west closed in on it, and at this point it takes a turn to
the north-north-east for half a mile, and then comes around
suddenly north-west. Up to this point it had been rather improving
in appearance than otherwise, but in the bend to the north-west the
channel is very broad. Its bed being limestone rock and indurated
clay, is for a space of five or six chains quite dry; then
commences another waterhole, the creek keeping a little more
towards north. We crossed the creek here and struck across the
plain in a due north course, for we could see the line of timber
coming up to the sand ridges in that direction. For from seven to
eight miles we did not touch the creek, and the eastern sand ridge
seceded to a distance, in some places of nearly three miles, from
our line, leaving an immense extent of grassy plain between it and
the creek. The distinctly marked feature on the lower part of this
creek is that whenever the main creek is on one side of a plain,
there