Stopping In The Middle Of The Day Wastes Time, And Entails The
Unloading Of The Camels Or Putting Them Down With Their Burdens On, A
Very Bad Plan; The Time So Spent At Midday Is Far More Valuable In The
Evening, When The Camels Can Employ It By Feeding.
Then again, a meal,
really unnecessary, during the day soon makes an appreciable difference in
the amount of provisions used.
Breaden and Godfrey consoled themselves
with tobacco, but Charlie and I were not smokers. I used to be, but gave
up the practice because it made me so dry - an effect that it does not have
on every one, some finding that a smoke relieves not only hunger but
thirst. I have only one objection to a smoker as a travelling companion,
and that is, that if by some horrible mishap he runs out of tobacco, he
becomes quite unbearable. The same holds with an excessive tea-drinker.
I was specially careful, therefore, to have a sufficient supply of these
articles. A large amount of tea was not required, since Godfrey was the
only confirmed tea-drinker.
On July 15th we reached Menzies, having followed the telegraph line to
that point. And a very badly constructed line this is, the poles being
timber and not sunk sufficiently deep into the ground - a contract job.
The iron poles which are now used in the Government-constructed lines are
a vast improvement. Menzies was the last town we called at, and was not
so specially inviting that we regretted leaving it.
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