THE INTERIOR OF AUSTRALIA. 387

links the country to the outside world. To the east of the telegraph
wire is the larger part of that which is settled country. There are
fertile lands sweeping far away toward the east, but toward the
west is, ‘a great lone land,’ as described by an explorer — ‘a wilderness
interspersed with salt marshes and lakes, barren hills and spinifex
deserts.’ Across the lower part of this wild, unknown land, EHyre, ©
afterwards famous as a governor of Jamaica, resolved to make a
journey.

“In one place he came to an immense, swamp-like tract, its mud
covered with a thin coating of salt. They tried to get through it,
going six miles into this bog, but they came near sinking, and gave
up the effort. It was a terrible journey for man and horse. Once,
they had only three quarts of water to last six days, and part of
this evaporated, and part of it was spilled. A dew falling, Eyre
gathered up a little of the moisture on a sponge, and his black boys
took rags also and wiped up the dew. Hyre met with terrible ob-
stacles in the humanity that travelled with him, two proving to be
traitors, robbers and murderers, and he was finally left with a black
boy, his only companion in that terrible land. He pushed ahead,
though. His privations were great, but he persevered, reaching the
west coast. This indomitable spirit spent a year and more in this
effort. :

“In 1874, John Forrest started to lead a party across the wild, rough
interior. Leaving the western coast, for days and weeks they traversed
a fine, grassy country, but by and by they struck a dry, miserable
land, whose great production seemed to be spinifex, a coarse bush with
long, pointed leaves. The surface was frequently flat — one level mass
stretching faraway. Sand and rocks abounded. Water was the great
pressing want of the party. Sometimes they would find it in what
they termed ‘rock-holes,’ and then again these natural wells would be