which we had brought with us. The country we travelled
through was low, level, and for the most part covered with salsolae, or
brush, the latter in some places being very dense, and causing great
fatigue to the horses in dragging the dray through it.

September 18.--Upon taking a view of the country, this morning, previous
to starting, it appeared so low and level, and held out so little
prospect of our finding water, that I was induced to deviate from the
course I had laid down, and steering S. 20 degrees E. made for some hills
before us. After travelling four miles upon this course, I observed a
native fire upon the hills at a bearing of S. 40 degrees E. and
immediately turned towards it, fully hoping that it was at a native camp
and in the immediate vicinity of water.

At eight miles we were close under the hills, but found the dray could
not cross the front ridges; I therefore left Mr. Scott to keep a course
parallel with the range, whilst I and the native boy rode across to where
we had seen the fire. Upon arriving at the spot I was greatly
disappointed to find, instead of a native camp, only a few burning
bushes, which had either been lit as a signal by the natives, after
noticing us in the plains, or was one of those casual fires so frequently
left by them on their line of march. I found the hills scrubby, barren,
and rocky, with much prickly grass growing upon their slopes. There were
no watercourses upon the west side of the range at all, nor could I by
tracing up some short rocky valleys coming from steep gorges in the face
of the hill find any water. The rock was principally of ironstone
formation. Upon ascending to the summit of the hill, I had an extensive
but unsatisfactory view, a vast level field of scrub stretching every
where around me, interspersed here and there with the beds of small dried
up lakes, but with no signs of water any where. At S. W. by S. I saw the
smoke of a native fire rising in the plains. Hurrying down from the
range, I followed the dray, and as soon as I overtook it, halted for the
night in the midst of a thick scrub of large tea-trees and minor shrubs.
There was a little grass scattered among the trees, on which, by giving
our horses two buckets of water each, they were able to feed tolerably
well. During the day we had travelled over a very heavy sandy country and
through dense brush, and our horses were much jaded. Occasionally we had
passed small dried up salt lakes and the bed