29th August.
At 7.35 a.m. left the bivouac and steered 30 degrees through thickets; at
8.30 crossed our track of the 24th, and at 9.15 passed a salt marsh
trending north-west and south-east; at 12.25 p.m. altered the course to
north till 1.0; then, 37 degrees, ascended a granite hill, on which we
found a few shallow pools of rainwater; then north till 4.0 p.m., and
bivouacked in a grassy patch with a small hollow containing a little
muddy water.
Latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes 46 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 51
minutes.
30th August.
Resumed our journey at 7.35 a.m., steering north over a level country
with patches of brushwood and grass; at 10.35 ascended a steep grassy
ridge, and found ourselves at the north-east extremity of the immense
salt lake which for five days had baffled our attempts to proceed north.
The lake, which was named Lake Moore, was at this part about five miles
wide, and extended to the horizon to the south-west; to the north and
west there were many bare granite hills; changing the course to 328
degrees, at 12.55 p.m. camped at a grassy granite hill.
Latitude 29 degrees 17 minutes 56 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 47
minutes.
31st August.
At 7.30 a.m. steered 328 degrees for two hours through thickets of
acacia, cypress, and gum; then entered a grassy country with jam-wattle;
at 10.35 passed a granite hill and altered the course to 357 degrees, and
at 11.30 ascended a high granite hill, from which many similar hills were
visible to the north and east, and a remarkable range of trap hills about
thirty miles to the north-north-east; also some smaller trap ranges to
the north-west, from ten to thirty miles distant. At noon steered 302
degrees towards the nearest of these ranges, traversing a level plain
with brushwood and grass; at 4.45 crossed a small dry watercourse
trending west, and at 5.5 bivouacked on a granite hill, with some grass
and a fine pool of rainwater in a hollow of the rock.
Latitude 29 degrees 3 minutes 14 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 31
minutes.
1st September.
Resumed our route at 7.45 a.m.; at 8.45 reached the hills we had been
steering for; from the summit there was an extensive view: to the north
and west were many trap hills and several dry salt lakes; to the north
the country was level for several miles, and then rose into a low range
of granite hills, covered with brushwood and grass; at 9.20 steered 230
degrees over level country with dense thickets of acacia; at noon the
country became more open; at 1.0 passed some small dry salt lagoons, the
country more open and with some grass, and at 3.0 camped at the foot of a
granite hill, with good grass and some water oozing out of a cleft in the
rock.
Latitude 28 degrees 50 minutes 44 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 20
minutes.
2nd September.
Leaving the bivouac at 7.40 a.m., steered 330 degrees over a succession
of grassy granite hills, with small watercourse trending to the west; at
12.40 p.m. came on a party of four aboriginals, who hastily decamped,
leaving their spears and shields behind in the hurry of retreat; they
appeared to be of rather small stature, and somewhat darker in colour
than the blacks near the Swan River. Observing a remarkable hill bearing
312 degrees about twenty miles distant, steered for it; the country
became more level, with grass and brushwood; at 3.5 turned north to a
steep granite hill, crossing a dry watercourse thirty yards wide and
sixteen feet deep trending north-west; at 4.40 halted in a gully in the
granite range, and obtained water by digging among the rocks.
Latitude 28 degrees 34 minutes 9 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 2
minutes.
3rd September.
Started at 8.0 a.m., steering towards the hill seen yesterday, and which
now bore 307 degrees. The country was nearly a dead level, with a few
small dry watercourses trending south-west; the soil a red loam,
producing some grass and small acacias; at 10.50 came on an extensive
flat covered with salicornia, which extended to the base of the hill, the
summit of which was reached at 12.25 p.m.; from this position the flat or
marsh appeared to extend fifteen miles to the north-east, a branch also
to the north-west, in which direction the water seemed to trend, though
the dip of the country, if any, was so slight as to render it uncertain.
To the north a range of trap hills, five to ten miles distant,
intercepted the view. Having completed observations at 2.10, steered 300
degrees along the foot of a range of trap hills; at 3.50 passed a dry
salt lake on our right, and at 5.15 bivouacked on the side of a trap
hill, among some fine oat-grass growing on calcareous tufa. From the
summit of the hill we could see salt marshes continuing in a north-west
direction for many miles; all the hills within twenty miles were of a
trap formation, and therefore gave no prospect of obtaining water, the
soil being loose and the rock full of fissures; hitherto we seldom had
found water except on or near granite rocks, which serve to collect the
rainwater of even slight showers.
Latitude 28 degrees 24 minutes 20 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 42
minutes.