Work Was Carried On All Night, Which Was Divided As Usual Into Shifts,
And This I Have No Doubt Saved Us From Attack.
Before sunset we had seen
several bucks sneaking about the rocks, and during the night they came
round us and held a whispered conversation with their fellow in our camp.
Between them a sort of telegraphy seemed to be going on by tapping stones
on the rocks.
They may have been merely showing their position in the
darkness, or it is possible that they have a "Morse code" of their own.
I was on shift when they came, and as the well wanted baling only every
twenty minutes, I was lying awake and watching the whole performance, and
could now and then see a shadowy figure in the darkness. As soon as I
rose to work, our buck lay down and snored heavily, and his friends of
course were silent. I awoke Breaden on my way, as it would have been far
too much in their favour should the blacks have attacked us and found me
down the well and the rest of the party asleep. They were quite right in
wishing to rescue their friend, since they could not tell what his fate
was to be, but we could not risk a wounded companion or possibly worse,
and lay watching for the remainder of the night. Evidently they were
inclined to take no risks either, for they left us in peace.
The wells, situated as they are in the bed of a rocky gully, would after
rain hold plenty of water, though we extracted no more than thirty-five
gallons. Their position is lat. 20 degrees 46 minutes, long. 126 degrees
23 minutes.
From the rocks above the wells the tablelands to the East have quite a
grand appearance, running in a curve with an abrupt cliff on the Western
side, and many conical and peaked hills rising from their summit. These
tablelands, which in a broken line were seen by us to extend Northwards
for over forty miles, and certainly extend Eastwards for twenty miles and
possibly a great deal further, are of sandstone. Looking Westwards, a few
detached blocks may be seen, but we seemed to have struck the Western
limit of these hills. I have named them the Southesk Tablelands, after my
father. Between the curved line of cliffs and the wells are several
isolated blocks. Seven and a half miles to the Westward a remarkable
headland (Point Massie) can be seen at the Northern end of a detached
tableland. Again to the West, one mile, at the head of a deep little
rocky gorge, whose entrance is guarded by a large fig tree, is a very
fine rock-hole. This was the promised water, and our native friend was
free to return to his family; he was greatly pleased at the bargain being
carried out, and had evidently not expected it. Possibly what he has
heard of the white-fella is not much to his credit!
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