enty-three miles to a rich and very pretty valley, under a
grassy range, lightly wooded with casuarinae. The soil was somewhat
sandy, but clothed with vegetation; in holes in the rocks we procured
abundance of water from a little valley near our camp, and in a swamp
about a mile and a half north-east was a spring. Our stage was a long
one, and the day being excessively hot, our horses, sheep, and dogs were
nearly all knocked up. Of the latter two were unfortunately missing when
we arrived at our halting ground; one came up afterwards, but the other
could nowhere be found, though both had been seen not two miles away. The
missing dog [Note 16 at end of para.], was the best of the two which I had
purchased of Mr. White, and I felt sorry for a loss which it would be
impossible for me to replace. Many native fires were seen to-day, and
especially in the direction of a high bare-looking detached range to the
north-east, named by me from its shape, Mount Wedge; none of these people
were, however, seen, but a fire still burning was found where we encamped
for the night.

[Note 16: Upon returning to Adelaide in 1841, I learnt that the dog had
gone back all the way to Mr. White's station, and as Mr. White wished to
keep the animal, he returned the money he had received at his sale.]

On the 30th we remained stationary to rest the horses, and to try and
recover the lost dog, but after a long and fruitless search, we were
obliged to give up the attempt.

On the 31st, after crossing a ridge under which we were encamped, we
passed through a very pretty grassy and park-like country, and what was
very unusual, not stony on the surface. There were in places a great many
wombat holes, but these were now all occupied by their tenants, and the
whole aspect of the country was more encouraging and cheerful; the extent
of good country was, however, very limited. Towards the coast was a low
scrubby-looking region with salt lakes, and to the east it was bounded by
a dense brush, beyond which were extensive plains of a barren and scrubby
appearance. In the midst of these plains were large fields of a coarse
wiry-kind of grass, growing in enormous tufts, five or six feet high, and
indicating the places where swamps exist in wet seasons; these were now
quite dry, but we had always found the same coarse-tufted grass growing
around the margins of the salt lakes, and in those places also where we
had found water. This description of country seemed