And This, I Am Inclined To Think, Is What They Depend Upon Principally In These Arid Regions For The Little Water They Require.

The general direction taken by these wanderers of the desert, was to the north-east.

About four o'clock the men with the dray-horses arrived, bringing ten gallons of water, which we divided among the horses, and then took it in turn to watch them during the night.

December 13. - Having buried a few things that I might require when I should come out here again, (for I determined not to give up the attempt to round the Great Bight,) I had all the rest of our luggage taken up, and the horses being harnessed, we returned with the dray to the water at the sand-hills, arriving there early in the afternoon. We had yoked up three strong fresh horses, that had done no work for some time previously; and yet, such was the nature of the country, that with an almost empty dray, they had hardly been able to reach the water, at the furthest only twenty-two miles distant, and in accomplishing this, they had been upwards of ten hours in the collar. How then could we expect to get through such a region with drays heavily loaded, as ours must be, when we moved on finally.

On the 14th we remained in camp to refresh the horses, and early on the following day proceeded through the scrub, on our return to the depot; first burying our pack-saddle, and a few other things, in the plain near the sand-hills. Notwithstanding the care we had taken of the horses, and the little work we had given them, they got fagged in going through the scrub, and I was obliged to halt the dray at the rocky well in the plains, five miles short of the depot. I myself went on with the boy to the camp at Point Fowler, where I found the party feasting upon emus, four of which they had shot during my absence.

December 16. - About ten to-day the dray and men arrived safely at the depot, being the last detachment of the party engaged in this most unfortunate expedition, which had occupied so much time and caused such severe and fatal loss, independently of its not accomplishing the object for which it was undertaken. In the evening I sent Mr. Scott to see if the cutter had returned, and upon his coming back he reported that she had just arrived, but that he had not been able to communicate with her.

Chapter XIII.

FUTURE PLANS - REDUCE THE NUMBER OF THE PARTY - SEND THE CUTTER TO ADELAIDE - REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR - MONOTONOUS LIFE AT CAMP - REMOVE TO ANOTHER LOCALITY - GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY - FLINT FOUND - AGAIN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE HEAD OF THE BIGHT - REACH THE SAND HILLS, AND BURY FLOUR - FRIENDLY NATIVES - EXHAUSTED STATE OF THE HORSES - GET THE DRAY TO THE PLAIN - BURY WATER - SEND BACK DRAY - PROCEED WITH PACK-HORSE - OPPRESSIVE HEAT - SEND BACK PACK-HORSE - REACH THE HEAD OF THE BIGHT - SURPRISE SOME NATIVES - THEIR KIND BEHAVIOUR - YEER-KUMBAN KAUEE - THEIR ACCOUNT OF THE INTERIOR.

December 17. - HAVING now maturely considered the serious position I was in, the difficult nature of the country, the reduced condition and diminished number of my horses, and the very unfavourable season of the year, I decided upon taking advantage of a considerate clause in the Governor's letter, authorizing me "to send back the WATERWITCH to Adelaide for assistance, if required."

From the experience I had already had, and from the knowledge I had thus acquired of the character of the country to the westward and to the north, it was evident that I could never hope to take my whole party, small as it was, with me in either direction. I had already lost three horses in an attempt to get round the head of the Bight, and I had also found that my three best horses now remaining, when strong and fresh after a long period of rest at the depot, had with difficulty been able to move along with an empty dray in the heavy sandy country to the north-west; how could I expect, then, to take drays when loaded with provisions and other stores? Hitherto we had enjoyed the assistance of the cutter in passing up the coast - by putting all our heavy baggage on board of her, the drays were comparatively empty, and we had got on tolerably well. We could no longer, however, avail ourselves of this valuable aid, for we were now past all harbours. Fowler's Bay being the last place of refuge where a vessel could take shelter for many hundred miles, whilst the fearful nature of the coast and the strong current setting into the Bight, made it very dangerous for a vessel to approach the land at all. Upon leaving Fowler's Bay, therefore, it was evident that we must be dependent entirely upon our own resources; and it became necessary for me to weigh well and maturely how I might best arrange my plans so as to meet the necessity of the case. It appeared to me that if I sent two of my men back to Adelaide in the WATERWITCH, a single dray would carry every necessary for the reduced party remaining, and that by obtaining a supply of oats and bran for the horses, and giving them a long rest, they might so far recover strength and spirits as to afford me reasonable grounds of hope that we might succeed in forcing a passage through the country to the westward, bad as it evidently was. Acting upon the opinion I had arrived at, I sent for the master of the cutter and requested him to get ready at once for sea, and then communicated my decision to the two men who were to leave us, Corporal Coles, R.S. and M. and John Houston, requesting them to get ready to embark to-morrow.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 70 of 247
Words from 71557 to 72563 of 254601