29th August.
The two horses left yesterday were brought into camp early in the day,
and as they were too weak to carry their loads, they were placed on our
saddle-horses, one of the party by turns having to walk. As the season
was rapidly advancing, we could not venture to incur any delay, much as
the horses required rest, and accordingly resumed an east course late in
the day. At five miles came upon a sandy stream-bed fifty yards wide,
trending to the north-east, beyond which the country opened out into an
extensive plain of white waving grass--to the north uninterrupted by a
single elevation, while to the east and south, at eight or ten miles
distant, rose ranges of granite hills, capped with horizontal sandstones.
It was not until some time after dark that we arrived near the opposite
edge of the plain, when we came upon a river 200 yards wide, running to
the northward. The long drought had reduced it to a few shallow pools,
running from one to the other through the deep sand in the bed;
magnificent cajeput-trees lined the banks, and grass was in abundance.
Camp 71.