Immediately the boat was hauled up, the cook made
his fire; two others pitched the tent; the coxswain handed
the things out of the boat; the rest carried them up to the
tents and collected firewood. By this order, in half an hour
everything was ready for the night. A watch of two men
and an officer was always kept, whose duty it was to look
after the boats, keep up the fire, and guard against Indians.
Each in the party had his one hour every night.
During this day we tracked but a short distance, for there
were many islets, covered by thorny bushes, and the channels
between them were shallow.
April 20th. - We passed the islands and set to work. Our
regular day's march, although it was hard enough, carried
us on an average only ten miles in a straight line, and perhaps
fifteen or twenty altogether. Beyond the place where
we slept last night, the country is completely _terra incognita_,
for it was there that Captain Stokes turned back. We saw
in the distance a great smoke, and found the skeleton of a
horse, so we knew that Indians were in the neighbourhood.
On the next morning (21st) tracks of a party of horse
and marks left by the trailing of the chuzos, or long spears,
were observed on the ground.
