From lat. 26 degrees S. to lat. 22 degrees 40 minutes there stretches a vast desert of rolling sand, not formed in ridges like those already described, nor heaped up with the regularity of those met with further north.  “Downs” I think is the only term that describes properly the configuration of the country.  “The Great Undulating Desert of Gravel” would meet all requirements should it be thought worthy of a name.  In this cheerless and waterless region we marched from August 22nd until September 17th seeing no lakes, nor creeks, nor mountains; no hills even prominent enough to deserve a name, excepting on three occasions.  Day after day over open, treeless expanses covered only by the never-ending spinifex and strewn everywhere with pebbles and stones of ferruginous sandstone, as if some mighty giant had sown the ground with seed in the hope of raising a rich crop of hills.  The spinifex here cannot grow its coarse, tall blades of grass—­the top growth is absent and only round stools of spines remain; well was it named Porcupine Grass!

Occasional clumps of mulga break the even line of the horizon, and, in the valleys, thickets or belts of bloodwood are seen.  In these hollows one may hope to find feed for the camels, for here may grow a few quondongs, acacia, and fern-tree shrubs, and in rare cases some herbage.  The beefwood tree, the leaves of which camels, when hard pressed, will eat, alone commands the summit of the undulations.  As for animal life—­well, one forgets that life exists, until occasionally reminded of the fact by a bounding spinifex rat, frightened from his nest.  Day after day one or other of us used to walk away from the caravan carrying a gun on the chance of getting a shot; never once did we succeed; the rats invariably got up out of range, and after a time we voted it unnecessary labour.  Had they been easily shot their small numbers would hardly have made it worth while to burden one’s self with a gun; to see a dozen in a day was counted out of the common.  Birds were nowhere numerous—­an occasional eagle-hawk, or crow, and once or twice a little flock of long-tailed parrots whose species was unknown to any of us.  Unfortunately I was unable to procure a specimen.  At any waters pigeons, sparrows, crows, and hawks might be seen in fair quantities; and very rarely a turkey.

From the 22nd to the 24th we saw no signs of natives.  On the latter day several smokes rose during the march.  So far, we had no certain knowledge of the meaning of these smokes.  They might be native signals, or from fires for the purpose of burning off the old spinifex to allow young feed to grow and so attract the rats to a known locality; or it might be that the blacks were burning the country to hunt out the rats and lizards.  On the 25th a sudden change took place, and we found ourselves in a small, open thicket with a coarse undergrowth of grass, and scattered about were a few boulders of decomposed granite and occasional low outcrops of rock.  Several old