We Left Patience Well On The 12th, At 10 A.M., Taking The Woman With Us.
Breaden Was The Only One In Whose Charge She Would Consent To Be At All
Calm; To Him Therefore Was Allotted The Duty Of Looking After Her.
At
eleven we reached the dry well to which Warri and I had tracked the
natives.
The water we were forced to use was so uninviting that I decided
to make another effort to find a supply in this locality. The gin was of
no use whatever, and would only repeat whatever we said to her - "Gabbi,"
which King Billy had understood, was wasted on her. "Gabbi, gabbi," she
repeated, waving her arm all round the horizon. Leaving the rest to
bottom the dry well, which might have water lower down, Warri and I again
started off on the tracks of a buck, and these we followed due North on
foot for four and a half hours, hoping every moment to come on a well.
Soon after starting an apparently old track joined the other, and
together they marched still North. Presently the old tracks changed into
fresh ones, and close by I found two rough sandals made of strips of
bark. One I kept, the other was too nearly worn out. There was no change
in the dreary appearance of the country; through scrubs, over stones and
sand we held our way, until Warri, who was now a little way behind,
called, "No good, no more walk!" I could see the poor boy was knocked
up, and felt little better myself; to go on did not guarantee water, and
might end in disaster, so after a short rest we retraced our steps. The
night was now dark and oppressive, so hatless and shirtless we floundered
through the spinifex, nearly exhausted from the walk, following so close
on the last few days' work. I believe that but for Warri I should have
been "bushed"; my head was muddled, and the stars not too clear. What a
joyful sight met our eyes as we crested a rise of sand - a sight almost as
reviving as the food and water we so anxiously looked forward to. Tongues
of flame shot up in the air, a fire lit by our mates, but showing that,
in spite of Warri's instinct, we had not been walking in quite the right
direction. No welcome news greeted our arrival - the well was dry, and the
native obdurate. We all agreed she was useless, and since she refused all
forms of nutriment I feared she would die on our hands, so she regained
her liberty, and fled away with a rapidity not expected in one of her
years.
My companions had felt some anxiety at our continued absence, and again I
had evidence of the cordial friendship existing between us.
With reference to the bark sandals, the use of which is not so far
known, I append an extract from "The Horn Scientific Expedition," Part
IV., where we read the following:
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