Plunged As We Were So Suddenly
Into Darkness, Our Eyes Could Distinguish No Passage Leading From The
Chamber, And It Seemed As If We Had Been Tricked Again.
Further
exploration by the light of candles revealed two passages, one leading
west and upwards, the other east and downwards.
Charlie chose the latter;
before long I came to the end of mine, having failed to find anything but
bats, bones of birds and dingoes, and old native camp-fires. Following
Charlie, I found him crawling on hands and knees down a steep
slope - progress was slow, as the floor was rough and the ceiling jagged;
presently the passage dropped again, and at the end, below us, we could
see our candles reflected, and knew that at last we had water! Who,
except those who have had similar experiences, can picture one's feelings
of relief! "Thank God! thank God!" is all one can reiterate in one's
mind over and over again. The visible supply of water was small, and we
had grave doubts as to any soakage existing! Not wasting valuable time in
discussion, we crawled back with all speed to the cave, shouted up the
joyful news, and called for buckets and billies to bale with. The King was
now allowed to descend, but not unguarded, as we must first ascertain the
value of our supply. We could understand now why he had insisted on
carrying with him from our last camp a burning branch (a "fire-stick");
for he proceeded to make a fire on the floor of the cave from some dead
leaves and branches, and others along the passage, to light him; after
some hesitation he took a candle instead, and bolted down the passage like
a rat. He must have been very dry, judging from the time he stayed below
and from his distended appearance on re-ascending. He drank a great deal
more than any of us and yet had been a comparatively short time without
water, whilst we had been walking and working on starvation rations for a
good number of days.
Breaden and I set to work to unload the camels while the others started
preparations for water-getting. By 3 p.m. we were ready. King Billy at
the bottom, baling water with a meat tin into a bucket, which he handed
to Warri, who passed it to Charlie; thence VIA Godfrey it reached
Breaden, who on the floor of the cave hitched it on to a rope, and I from
above hauled it through the entrance to the surface. Useful as he was
below, I soon had to call Warri up to keep off the poor famished camels,
who, in their eagerness, nearly jostled me into the hole. First I filled
our tanks, doubtful what supply the cave would yield; but when word was
passed that "She was good enough, and making as fast as we baled," I no
longer hesitated to give the poor thirsty beasts as much as ever they
could drink.
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