14th February.
Leaving the camp at 6.0 a.m., steered an average course of north 300
degrees east; crossing the granite ridge, we entered a level sandy
country with much scrub, which was traversed till 8.40, when we entered a
wide grassy plain extending to the north-west, in which direction we
steered till 2.10 p.m., when we halted at a small muddy puddle two inches
deep and three yards wide. Then rode on with Mr. H. Gregory to search for
a larger supply of water, and found a shallow pool about a mile distant,
to which the party moved and encamped. Although this pool was not 100
yards long and six inches deep, a large flock of ducks, snipe, and small
gulls, were congregated at it, several thousand pigeons of species new to
us came to drink. These pigeons keep in flocks of from ten to more than a
thousand, feeding on the seeds of the grass on the open plains, as they
never alight on trees. They are somewhat larger than the common
bronze-wing; the head is black, with a little white at the base of the
beak and behind the eye; back pale brown; breast, blue; throat marked
with white; wings with white tips to the feathers and a small patch of
bronze; tail short, tip white; feet, dull red. The evening and night were
cloudy.