Page:Expeditions of Discovery in South Australia (IA jstor-1798142).pdf/10



1. Excursions in the Vicinity of Lake Torrens.—Mr. Eyre left Adelaide on the 18th June, 1840, and arrived at Mount Arden, at the head of Spencer's Gulf, on the 3rd of July. From his depôt there he writes:—

"On the 6th I proceeded, accompanied by one of my native boys, on horseback, to reconnoitre Lake Torrens and the country to the north of the depot, leaving the party in camp. I arrived on the shores of Lake Torrens the third day after leaving the depot, and have ascertained that it is a basin of considerable magnitude, extending certainly over a space varying in width from fifteen to twenty miles, with a length of from forty to fifty from its southern extremity to the most northerly part of it, visible from a high summit in Flinders Range (about ninety miles N. of Mount Arden). The lake is girded with an outer ridge of sand, covered with salsolaceous plants, and with saline crusts appearing above the ground at intervals. Its waters extend over a considerable surface, but they are, apparently, shallow. I could not approach the water from the soft nature of that part of its bed which is uncovered, and which reached from three to four miles from the outer bank to the water's edge. There can be no doubt, however, of its being very salt, as the portion of its bed which lay exposed to our view was thickly coated with pungent particles of salt. There were not any trees or shrubs of any kind near the lake where we made it, nor could either grass or fresh water be procured for our horses. Lake Torrens is bounded on its western side by high land—apparently a continuation of the table-land to the westward of the head of Spencer's Gulf. I should think that it must receive a considerable drainage from that quarter as well as the whole of the waters falling from Flinders Range to the eastward.

"From the very inhospitable nature of the country around the lake, I could not examine it so carefully or so extensively as I could have wished. My time, too, being very limited, made me hurry away to the northward, to search for a place to which I might bring on my party, as the grass in the neighbourhood of the depot is very old, arid much less abundant than in either of my former visits there. It became, therefore, imperative on me to remove the horses as speedily as possible. Should circumstances permit, I shall, however, endeavour to visit Lake Torrens again, on my return from the northern interior. After leaving the lake I spent many days in examining the country to the northward of our depot. Its character seemed to vary but little; barren sandy plains still formed the lower level, and the hills constituting the continuation of Flinders Range were still composed of quartz and ironstone. They are, however, gradually becoming less elevated and more detached, with intervals of stony valleys between, and the whole country was, if possible, assuming a more barren aspect, while the springs, which had heretofore been numerous among the hills, were very few in number, difficult to find, and very far in amongst the hills. After a most anxious and laborious search, I at last succeeded in finding a place about ninety miles (of latitude) N. of Mount Arden, to which I can remove my depôt,