The far hills or ridges to the west, which I now intended to visit, bore nearly west.  Another salt bush plain was next crossed; this was nearly three miles long.  We now gave the horses an hour’s spell, the thermometer showing 102 degrees in the shade; then, re-saddling, we went on, and it was nine o’clock at night when we found ourselves under the shadows of the hills we had steered for, having them on the north of us.

I searched in the dark, but could find no feature likely to supply us with water; we had to encamp in a nest of triodia without any water, having travelled forty-eight miles through the usual kind of country that occupies this region’s space.  At daylight the thermometer registered 70 degrees, that being the lowest during the night.  On ascending the hill above us, there was but one feature to gaze upon—­the lake still stretching away, not only in undiminished, but evidently increasing size, towards the west and north-west.  Several lateral channels were thrown out from the parent bed at various distances, some broad and some narrow.  A line of ridges, with one hill much more prominent than any I had seen about this country, appeared close down upon the shores of the lake; it bore from the hill I stood upon south 68 degrees west, and was about twenty miles off.  A long broad salt arm, however, ran up at the back of it between it and me, but just opposite there appeared a narrow place that I thought we might cross to reach it.

The ridge I was on was red granite, but there was neither creek nor rock-hole about it.  We now departed for the high hill westward, crossing a very boggy salt channel with great difficulty, at five miles; in five more we came to the arm.  It appeared firm, but unfortunately one of the horses got frightfully bogged, and it was only by the most frantic exertions that we at length got him out.  The bottom of this dreadful feature, if it has a bottom, seems composed entirely of hot, blue, briny mud.  Our exertions in extricating the horse made us extremely thirsty; the hill looked more inviting the nearer we got to it, so, still hoping to reach it, I followed up the arm for about seven miles in a north west direction.  It proved, however, quite impassable, and it seemed utterly useless to attempt to reach the range, as we could not tell how far we might have to travel before we could get round the arm.  I believe it continues in a semicircle and joins the lake again, thus isolating the hill I wished to visit.  This now seemed an island it was impossible to reach.  We were sixty-five miles away from the only water we knew of, with no likelihood of any nearer; there might certainly be water at the mount I wished to reach, but it was unapproachable, and I called it by that name; no doubt, had I been able to reach it, my progress would still have been impeded to the west by the huge lake itself.  I could get no water except brine upon its shores, and I had no appliances to distil that; could I have done so, I would have