country.  These grassy glades were fair to see, reminding one somewhat of Merrie England’s glades and Sherwood forests green, where errant knight in olden days rode forth in mailed sheen; and memory oft, the golden rover, recalls the tales of old romance, how ladie bright unto her lover, some young knight, smitten with her glance, would point out some heroic labour, some unheard-of deed of fame; he must carve out with his sabre, and ennoble thus his name.  He, a giant must defeat sure, he must free the land from tain, he must kill some monstrous creature, or return not till ’twas slain.  Then she’d smile on him victorious, call him the bravest in the land, fame and her, to win, how glorious—­win and keep her heart and hand!

Although no water was found here, what it pleases me to call my mind was immediately made up.  I would return at once to the camp, where water was so scarce, and trust all to the newly discovered chain to the west.  Water must surely exist there, we had but to reach it.  I named these mounts Ayers Range.  Upon returning to our camp, six or seven miles off, I saw that a mere dribble of water remained in the tank.  Gibson was away after the horses, and when he brought them, he informed me he had found another place, with some water lying on the rocks, and two native wells close by with water in them, much shallower than our present one, and that they were about three miles away.  I rode off with him to inspect his new discovery, and saw there was sufficient surface water for our horses for a day or two.

These rocks are most singular, being mostly huge red, rounded solid blocks of stone, shaped like the backs of enormous turtles.  I was much pleased with Gibson’s discovery, and we moved the camp down to this spot, which we always after called the Turtle Back.  The grass and herbage were excellent, but the horses had not had sufficient water since we arrived here.  It is wonderful how in such a rocky region so little water appears to exist.  The surface water was rather difficult for the horses to reach, as it lay upon the extreme summit of the rock, the sides of which were very steep and slippery.  There were plenty of small birds; hawks and crows, a species of cockatoo, some pigeons, and eagles soaring high above.  More seeds were planted here, the soil being very good.  Upon the opposite or eastern side of this rock was a large ledge or cave, under which the Troglodytes of these realms had frequently encamped.  It was ornamented with many of their rude representations of creeping things, amongst which the serpent class predominated; there were also other hideous shapes, of things such as can exist only in their imaginations, and they are but the weak endeavours of these benighted beings to give form and semblance to the symbolisms of the dread superstitions, that, haunting the vacant chambers of their darkened minds, pass amongst them in the place of either philosophy or religion.