was that they were dark objects above the
line of horizon, and that the intervening country seemed to be as dark as
they were. The weather had changed from cold to hot, the wind having
flown from S. to the N.E., and the day and night were exceedingly warm. I
was sorry to observe, too, that the horses had scarcely touched the grass
on which, for their sakes, I had been tempted to stop, and that they were
evidently suffering from the previous day's journey of from 34 to 36
miles, that being about the distance we had left the water in the grassy
valley. Before mounting, on the morning of the 21st, Mr. Stuart and I
went to see if we could make out more than we had been able to do the
night before, what kind of country was in front of us, but we were
disappointed, and found that we should have to wait patiently until we
got nearer the hills to judge of their formation. About half a mile below
where we had slept, the valley led to the N.N.E., and on turning, we
found it there opened at once upon the Stony Desert; but the hills were
now hid from us by sandy undulations to our left, and even when we got
well into the plain we could hardly make out what the hills were. As we
neared them, however, we observed that they were nothing more than high
sand hills, covered with stones even as the desert itself, to their tops.
That part of it over which we were riding also differed from any other
portion, in having large sharp-pointed water-worn rocks embedded in the
ground amongst the stones, as if they had been so whilst the ground was
soft. There was a line of small box-trees marking the course of a creek
between us and the hills, and a hope that we should find water cheered us
for a moment, but that ray soon vanished when we saw the nature of its
bed. We searched along it for about half an hour in vain, and then turned
to the hills and ascended to the top of one of the highest, about 150
feet above the level of the plain. From it the eye wandered hopelessly
for some bright object on which to rest. Behind us to the south-east lay
the sand hills we had crossed, with the stony plain sweeping right round
them, but in every other direction the dark brown desert extended. The
line of the horizon was broken to the north-west and north by hills
similar to the one we had ascended; but in those directions not a blade
of grass, not a glittering spot was to be seen.

At this point, which I have placed in lat. 25 degrees 54 minutes and in
long. 1