Transactions and proceedings and report of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide, South Australia . ently cool forthe hand to tolerate. On September 18 we arrived at MountHopeless Station, having travelled over the most drearycountry it has been my lot to traverse. No wonder Sturtshould have bestowed such a name—no tree, no bush, nowater : and we had difficulty in scraping up sufficient materialfor fire to boil the billy. Next day we reached a waterhole,and later the crossing between Lakes Blanche and Callabonna,all dry ; but the water at the well was deliciously clear aiidcool, and we speedil


Transactions and proceedings and report of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide, South Australia . ently cool forthe hand to tolerate. On September 18 we arrived at MountHopeless Station, having travelled over the most drearycountry it has been my lot to traverse. No wonder Sturtshould have bestowed such a name—no tree, no bush, nowater : and we had difficulty in scraping up sufficient materialfor fire to boil the billy. Next day we reached a waterhole,and later the crossing between Lakes Blanche and Callabonna,all dry ; but the water at the well was deliciously clear aiidcool, and we speedily replaced the muddy water in our can-teens. Leaving this encrusted and barren area, our routenow lay up Strzelecki Creek, also dry, but of greater interest,and yielding a little more for the collector. In places largeshallow pools of muddy water still remained, but they werefor the greater part unapproachable, owing to the boggynature of the surrounding ground, and strewn with the car-cases of dead cattle, bogged during the droue^ht period. Thewater in these pools is salter than the sea. 408. The dotted line shows the route. 409 The camels now showed signs of the presence of grubsin their noses. The photograph (pi. xxi., fig. 1) shows avery characteristic attitude—the expectancy of a sneeze-On the sandhill bordering the course of the creek we notedmany tracks of animals, including jumping marsupials, birds,lizards, beetles, and other insects. Meteorites, not yetdescribed, have been found at Accalana and Carraweena. Wegot good water at Carraweena Well; its proximity was indi-cated by myriads of cockatoos and other birds. A water-trough,filled for the use of the mailmans horses, was largely patron-ized by dragon-flies and wasps, of which latter two or threespecies were taken whilst drinking. Our own ablutions in thefast disappearing daylight disconcerted thousands of Galahs,whose drinking time we had inadvertently postponed. Thisday we passed the site of Howitts 32nd camp at


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