Though I Got The Full Benefit Of These Insects, I Was Never
Bitten; They May Or May Not Be Poisonous, But Look Deadly Enough, Being
From One To Four Inches From Toe To Toe.
The scrubs for the most part are
thick and without a break for many miles.
Sometimes open country is met
with - not always a welcome change.
July 26th the thickets became more and more open until we came across a
narrow salt-lake; by leading each camel separately we reached the other
side without mishap, and congratulated ourselves on our good fortune,
until the next morning when we found that our camp had been on an island;
and the lake stretched North and South as far as the eye could reach,
until lake and sky became one in a shimmering mirage. I think it probable
that this lake joins the Eastern portion of Lake Darlot, which lies to the
N.N.W., and connects with the narrow lake seen by Luck and myself in 1894,
to the S.S.E. Whatever its extent there was no doubt about its nature;
from 8.30 until 1.30 we were occupied in hauling, digging out, and
dragging our camels, and in humping on our backs some 5,000 lbs. weight of
packs, across a channel not half a mile wide. Camels vary very much in
their ability to cross bogs. Those which take small steps succeed best;
the majority take steps of ordinary length and, in consequence, their hind
feet slide into the hole left by the fore, and in an instant they are
pinned by the hind leg up to the haunch. Kruger was splendid, and simply
went through by main force, though he eventually sank close to the shore.
I had carried over some of the loading, amongst it my camera, and was
just in time to take a snapshot as he was sinking. Shiddi, the cunning old
rogue, could not be persuaded across; he would try the ground with one
foot and then draw back like a timid bather. We left him roaring to his
mates and yet afraid to join them, until we were ready to start again. As
soon as he saw the caravan disappear over the sandhill which abutted on
the lake, he took a desperate plunge and came through with ease.
The shores of the lake, as usual, were covered with samphire, having
something the appearance of heather. At this season the plant is soft and
juicy, and, though salt, makes capital feed for camels. In the summer it
withers up to dry sticks and has no moisture. Once out of sight of the
lake we were disgusted at coming into a belt of flat spinifex country,
and were afraid that already we had reached the confines of the desert,
more especially since in 1894 I had placed its edge in that longitude.
However, we were agreeably disappointed, for after a few miles the
spinifex ceased, and on penetrating a dense thicket we debouched on a fine
grassy flat.
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