With what eager anxiety the shovelsful are watched, when the expected “bottom” is nearly reached, by man and beast alike, who, utterly weary and absolutely parched, know that they are soon to learn their fate.  The horses snort and plunge in eager and impatient expectation, whilst the patient camel contents himself with grunts and moans, though, as his knees are probably strapped beneath him, he cannot protest more forcibly.  At length, perhaps, all are rewarded by the welcome sight of a tiny trickle in one corner, or perhaps the hole turns out a “duffer,” and the weary, weary work must be commenced again in a fresh spot.

In many cases these granite rocks have been utilised as a catchment area for tanks, into which the water is led by drains, which encircle the foot of the outcrop.  Before the railway was built, such tanks, sunk by Government along the Southern Cross-Coolgardie track, enabled teamsters to bring their horses through with safety, which would otherwise have been impossible at some seasons of the year.

I append a table showing cost and contents of Government tanks excavated at the base of granite rocks between Southern Cross and Coolgardie:—­

Name of Reservoir.       Cost (pounds).    Contents in     Cost per Million
Gallons.       Gallons (pounds). 
Reen’s Soak                3,246           900,000            3,607
Kararawalgee               2,947         1,250,000            2,858
Boorabbin                  3,025           900,000            3,461
Woolgangee                 3,825         1,2501000            3,100
Bullabulling               4,118         1,250,000            3,294
Coolgardie (No, 1)         1,167           800,000            1,454
Coolgardie (No. 2)         2,110         1,400,000            1,503
Halgoorlie (half-way)      1,266           500,000            2,532
Kalgoorlie...              1,554           500,000            3,108
Twenty-five Mile Tank      1,881           500,000            3,762
Forty Mile Tank            1,546           500,000            3,092
Colreavy’s Tank            2,193           997,000            2,199

The above table will give some idea of the enormous expense entailed by the opening up of the interior.  In addition to these, wells and bores were put down, many of which failed to strike water.

Ever-thoughtful Nature has provided, on the surface of the “granites,” small reservoirs which, after rain, may, in some cases, hold many hundred gallons of water.  The Rock—­or Namma-holes (I presume “Namma” is a native name, but of this I am uncertain) are usually more or less conical in shape, and vary in depth from a few inches to twenty feet, and in diameter from half a foot to several.  Their sides are smooth, and slope down to a rounded bottom, where stones are often found which would suggest that they have had something to do with the formation of these peculiar holes.  Beneath a hard surface layer the rock becomes decomposed and comparatively