Steering for the most western point of Mount Deception range, until we opened one still more distant to the north-west, and which I named Termination Hill, we kept pushing on through barren stony plains, without grass or shrubs, and arrived late in the afternoon upon a large watercourse with gum-trees, but could find no water in its bed.  Near it, however, in the plains, we were fortunate enough to discover a puddle of rain water, and at once halted for the night, though the feed was indifferent.  We had travelled twenty-eight miles, and the pack-horse carrying twelve gallons of water, was considerably fatigued.  At the puddle, two teal were seen, which indicated the existence of a larger body of water somewhere in the neighbourhood, but our efforts to find it were unsuccessful.

August 3.—­Crossing very heavy sandy ridges, we passed at intervals one or two dry watercourses, and the beds of some small dry lakes among the sandy ridges, in one of which was a little rain water which appeared to be rapidly drying up.  Watering the horses we moved on for Termination Hill, but the nature of the country had been so unfavourable, that the pack-horse was knocked up, and I was obliged to halt four miles short of our intended destination, and where there was but poor feed for the animals.  After dinner I walked to Termination Hill and ascended it.  Like all the others I had recently examined, it was composed principally of quartz, ironstone and a kind of slaty rock; the low hills in front exhibiting the grey limestone, whilst patches of gum scrub were observable in many places.  From the summit of Termination Hill, Lake Torrens bore W. 20 degrees S. but the view was obstructed by intervening sand ridges, the elevated land on the opposite shore of the lake still appeared to continue, and was visibly further north than the lake itself, which, as I observed, was partially shut out by the ridges.  To the north were low broken hills similar to those around me, but less elevated, and immediately under these hills to the westward, were heavy red sandy ridges, such as we had crossed during the day.  To the eastward and ten degrees north of east were seen Flinders range, with which Mount Deception and Termination Hills were connected, by low long spurs thrown off to the northward.  In the north-east the horizon was one unbroken, low, flat, level waste, with here and there small table-topped elevations, appearing white in the distance and seemingly exhibiting precipitous faces.  Wherever I turned, or whatever way I looked, the prospect was cheerless and disheartening.  Our stage had been twenty-two miles.

August 4.—­After giving five gallons of water each to my own and the native boy’s horse, I sent back the man with the pack-horse and the empty kegs to the depot.  We then steered E. 5 degrees S. across some very extensive barren stony plains, occasionally broken into irregular surfaces with steep white banks (of a fine freestone), forming the termination of the higher levels, fronting the hollows.  These hollows or flats were covered with salsolaceous plants and samphire, and appeared once to have been salt swamps.