On our march our captives cleverly caught a spinifex rat and a snake (one of the very few that we saw); they greedily devoured both, and were much pleased when Godfrey refused to partake of a piece of half-raw snake which they politely offered him.  We discovered that they had a great liking for our beef-water—­that is, the water in which our salt beef had been cooked—­and made no bones about swallowing a couple of gallons of this brine-like soup.  It had one good effect, for it made them most anxious to take us to water the next morning!  The hills we found to be of the usual character, barren sandstone, from which numerous rocky creeks have torn their way through the sand.  Following up a little glen, terribly rough and steep for the camels, we came at length to a fine pool, hemmed in by almost sheer cliffs sixty feet high.  Climbing to the top of these, I could see that the same rough country extended for a considerable distance to the westward, and that further travel up the glen was impossible; so we retraced our steps down the creek, on the banks of which we found grass and bushes in profusion, and poison plant.  This drove us away into the sandhills beyond all harm, and, unfortunately, beyond all feed as well, nor had we time before night set in to cut and carry any bushes for the camels, as we might otherwise have done.

That night our camp was in lat. 21 degrees 25 minutes, long. 128 degrees 20 minutes.  The following morning I ascended the highest point in the range, whilst Breaden and Warri took our animals for a final drink up the glen.  The lake was just visible, lit up by the rising sun, but I doubt if during the day it could be seen.  From the range numerous creeks, nine in all, run Eastwards, one of which, I think, reaches the lake, as with field-glass I could follow a serpentine line of gum trees.  The rest run out a few miles from their head on to grass-flats timbered with large gums.  The hills are of sandstone in layers, dipping to the West; these seem to have been forced up into three-cornered blocks, the faces of which have weathered away on the East side, forming steep slopes of stones and boulders.  Between the hills low ridges of sandstone running North and South outcrop only a few feet above the surface, and are separated by strips of white sand timbered with stunted gum trees.  The whole scene has a most strange and desolate appearance.

Returned to camp, I liberated the two guides, for I did not wish to inconvenience them by taking them beyond their own country.  They were quite unwilling to go, and indeed waited until we were ready to start, and were most anxious for us to go to the East again.  “Gilli nappa,” they assured us, was to be found, making their meaning clear by tracing in the sand a winding line to represent a creek; and when at the end I drew a lake, they were highly pleased, and grunted and snapped their fingers in approval.  However, when I showed them that we were going due South their faces assumed so dismal an expression,