From it we descended a small valley, the sides of which were covered with samphire bushes, and the bottom by the dry white and shallow bed of a salt lagoon.

From this valley we passed into a plain, in which various kinds of salsolaceous productions were growing round shallow salty basins.

At a little distance from these, however, we stumbled upon a channel with some tolerable water in it, hid amongst rhagodia bushes, but the horses refused to drink.

This plain communicated with that we had just left, round the N.E.point of the sand hill we had crossed but there were no box-trees on it to mark the line of any creek or water; but the sand ridge forming its northern boundary was very high, and contrary to their usual lay, ran directly across our course, and as the ascent was long and gradual, so was it some time before we got to the top.

The view which then presented itself was precisely similar to the one I have already described, and from which we had before been obliged to retreat.