Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 9, 2025
Lucky it was that this district is blessed with a plentiful dew in the cool weather, otherwise Eyre's horses could never have lasted as long as they did. Some 150 miles to the northward, the Colony was traversed from East to West by Giles in 1876, who found it to be a flat, sandy wilderness of scrub, alternating with open limestone plains, covered with saltbush and grass.*
Very rough, stony hills covered with dense scrub surround Kurnalpi on the south; once across these, flat, open country of saltbush and samphire, rapidly changing into salt-swamp, made travelling easy; passing over another low range of diorite, from which we got an extensive view of Lake Lapage to the west and Lake Roe to the east, we reached Beri, hitting off the rock with so much accuracy that even Paddy Egan was surprised into praise of the compass.
How he'd worked his way out to this back part of the run, where a bull of his quality ain't often seen, nobody could say. But he was a lively active beast, and he'd got into fine hard fettle with living on saltbush, dry grass, and scrub for the last few months, so he could travel as well as the others.
So we pushed on eastwards, through open forest of gums, scrubs, and thickets, broken by occasional small plains of saltbush, seeing no signs of water or lake, when presently we entered a belt of sandy desert rolling sandhills, spinifex-clad, with occasional thickets of mulga and mallee.
Judging from the growth of saltbush and other herbage it would seem likely that the rainfall on these elevated plains is considerable, and apparently runs to waste down blow-holes and cracks in the limestone.
The winter had caused a transformation in the appearance of the bush; everywhere little patches of green grass or saltbush could be seen, and wherever a teamster had stopped to bait his horses, a miniature field of oats had sprung into life. How we hoped that the rainfall had extended towards the interior!
Such eyes men get from many years of staring over great stretches of sunlit plain where no colour relieves the blinding glare nothing but dull grey clumps of saltbush and the dull green Mitchell grass. His whole bearing spoke of infinite determination and self-reliance the square chin, the steadfast eyes, telling their tale as plainly as print.
For the first twelve miles from the sea was through a dense and almost impenetrable scrub, when we reached the cliffs, and after ascending them we came into the same description of level country that we travelled over from Point Culver, save that this was more open and grassy, and became still clearer as we proceeded north, until, at our farthest point north, in latitude 31 degrees 33 minutes South, and longitude 126 degrees 33 minutes East, scarcely a tree was visible, and vast plains of grass and saltbush extended as far as the eye could reach in every direction.
For the first six days of their march they passed through scrubs of oak, mulga, and sandalwood; then they entered upon vast plains, which were well-grassed, and had saltbush and other edible shrubs growing on them. After crossing these endless downs for five days, they again reentered scrub, but of a more open nature than formerly.
Perhaps I ought to have mentioned before that Billy was just nine years old. I had come a long journey across country with Glenn, the squatter, and now we were entering the homestead paddock of his sheep-station, Winnanbar. Afar to the left was a stone building, solitary in a waste of saltbush and dead-finish scrub. I asked Glenn what it was. He answered, smilingly: "The Strangers' Hut.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking