Digging In The Sand Discloses All Sorts Of Odds And Ends That Could
Not Fail To Contaminate The Water.
It contains also - derived, I suppose,
from the sandstone - a certain amount of iron, which I believe to have
acted as a sort of tonic to us.
A many-tinted, bluish scum always floated
on the surface and tea made with it turned as black as ink - nevertheless
it was quite good drinking.
October 1st and 2nd we spent at the well, working as above described,
whilst Warri tended the camels a couple of miles away on a patch of weeds
he discovered. This weed which I have mentioned is the only available
feed in this region - without it the camels must have starved long since.
The plant somewhat resembles a thistle, but has a small blue flower, and
when fresh forms the best feed. So far, however, we had only seen it dry
and shrivelled. It is known to science as TRICHODESMA ZEYLANICUM. This
camp was the scene of a vicious onslaught on Charlie, made by the buck,
whilst away looking for the plant from which to make a chewing-ball.
Taking Charlie unawares he nearly accomplished his escape. Charlie, as it
happened, was the very worst to try such tricks on, for he
was the strongest of the party, and a very powerful man. During the
struggle the black-fellow grabbed Charlie's revolver pouch, and somehow
the revolver exploded, the bullet narrowly missing them both. It had the
useful effect of attracting our attention, and we were in time to save
Charlie some nasty wounds, as the buck was using his powerful jaws to
great advantage. Of course we could not blame him for trying to
escape - that was only natural - but it made us more cautious in the
future. Excepting the inconvenience of being unable to get away, he
had nothing to complain of, and had the advantage of plenty to eat
and drink without the trouble of looking for it. The manufacture of
the "quid" mentioned above is interesting. Cleaning and smoothing a
place in the sand, a small branch from a silvery-leafed ti-tree
(a grevillea, I think), is set alight and held up; from it as it
burns a light, white, very fine ash falls on to the prepared ground. Now
the stems of a small plant already chewed are mixed with the ashes. The
compound so formed is squeezed and pressed and kneaded into a small,
oval-shaped ball, of sticky and stringy consistency. The ball when in use
is chewed and sucked but not swallowed, and is passed round from mouth to
mouth; when not in use it is placed behind the ear, where it is carried.
Nearly every tribe we saw had such "quids." No doubt they derive some
sustenance from them. Sir John preferred his "chew" to any food we gave
him; though he did not care about tobacco.
For the next two days the sand-ridges seemed to vie with each other in
their height and steepness, between them there was hardly any flat ground
at all; mile after mile we travelled, up one and down and over the next
without ceasing.
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