Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia By Eyre, Edward John
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When Ripe It Is A Dark Purple, A Clear
Red, Or A Bright Yellow, For There Are Varieties.
The purple is the best
flavoured, but all are somewhat saline in taste.
To the natives these
berries are an important article of food at this season of the year, and
to obtain them and the fruit of the mesembryanthemum, they go to a great
distance, and far away from water. In eating the berries, the natives
make use of them whole, never taking the trouble to get rid of the
stones, nor do they seem to experience any ill results from so doing.
Having unsaddled the horses, we set to work to dig holes to water them;
the sand, however, was very loose, and hindered us greatly. The natives,
who were sitting at no great distance, observed the difficulty under
which we were labouring, and one of them who appeared the most
influential among them, said something to two of the others, upon which
they got up and came towards us, making signs to us to get out of the
hole, and let them in; having done so, one of them jumped in, and dug, in
an incredibly short time, a deep narrow hole with his hands; then sitting
so as to prevent the sand running in, he ladled out the water with a pint
pot, emptying it into our bucket, which was held by the other native. As
our horses drank a great deal, and the position of the man in the hole
was a very cramped one, the two natives kept changing places with each
other, until we had got all the water we required.
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