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.
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