Mr. Browne had greatly recovered from his late indisposition, and as Mr. Poole intimated to me that he had expressed his willingness to accompany him, I had several reasons for giving my assent to this arrangement.

On the morning of the 20th it still continued to rain, insomuch that I was anxious Mr. Poole should postpone his departure, but clearing up at noon, he left me and proceeded on his journey.  In the evening, however, we had heavy and violent showers; all night it poured in torrents with thunder and lightning, but the morning of the 21st was clear and fine.  A vast quantity of rain however had fallen.  The creek was overflowing its banks, and the ground in such a state that it would have been impossible to have moved the drays.  The temperature was exceedingly cold, although the thermometer did not fall below 66 degrees at half-past 2 p.m. the hottest part of the day.  Such a temperature I am aware would be considered agreeable in England, but in a climate like that of Australia, where the changes are so sudden, they are more severely felt.  Only a few days before the thermometer had ranged from 108 degrees to 117 degrees in the shade, thus at once causing a difference of 42 degrees and 51 degrees, and I am free to say that it was by no means agreeable.  On the 22nd I commenced my advance over the ranges, although the ground was hardly then in a condition to bear the weight of the drays.  We were indeed obliged to keep on the banks of the creek as they were higher and firmer than the plains, but after all we only made seven miles and halted, I had almost said without water, for notwithstanding the recent rains, there was not a drop in the bed of the creek, nor could we get any other than a scanty supply by digging; Jones, however, one of the bullock drivers, found a shallow pool upon the plains to which the cattle were driven.

On the way I ascended a small hill composed of mica slate, and on its summit found two or three specimens of tourmaline.  The boiling point of water on this hill was 210 degrees, the thermometer stood at 70 degrees.

On the 25th we crossed the little dividing range connected with Lewis’s Hill, which last I again ascended to verify my bearings, as we had erected three pyramids on the Coonbaralla range that were visible from it.  I also availed myself of the slow progress of the drays, to ascend a hill at some little distance from our line, which was considerably higher than any of those near it, and was amply rewarded for my trouble by the extensive view it afforded.

Our specimens and collections were at this period exceedingly limited, nor did there appear to be any immediate chance of increasing them.  The most numerous of the feathered race were the owls, (Strix flameus.) These birds flew about in broad daylight, and kept the camp awake all night by their screeching, it being at that time the breeding season.  The young birds generally sat on a branch near the hole in which they had been hatched, and set up a most discordant noise about every quarter of an hour, when the old ones returned to them with food.