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. What a labour of love that was, and what satisfaction to see
them "visibly swelling" before my eyes! Till after sunset we laboured
unceasingly, and I fancy none of us felt too strong. The thundery weather
still continued; the heat was suffocating - so much so that I took off my
hat and shirt, to the evident delight of the flies, whose onslaughts
would have driven me mad had I not been too busily engaged to notice
them.
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