Everything Of Weight
That Was Not Absolutely Necessary Was Left Here, And This Included A
Number Of Horseshoes.
On, the 15th we were ready to start, and marched on a West-South-West
course until we should sight Mount Worsnop, and turn West to the
Woodhouse Lagoon.
A mile and a half from our camp we crossed another
creek, and on its banks a tree marked G.H.S., and NARROO cut in the bark.
Evidently the prospectors had been pushing out in our absence, or else it
was another overland party from South Australia, for Forrest's route has
become quite a fashionable track, some half-dozen parties having crossed
the Colony in this latitude. On the next day we sighted Mount Worsnop
from eight miles (from the East it is more prominent than from the
South). This was a day of miracles! It RAINED - actually RAINED! The first
rain we had seen in the interior - not a hard rain, but an all-day
drizzle. How cold it made us, and how wet! - not that we minded that. But
the winter was approaching, we were daily getting further south, and with
our blood thin and poor, our clothes of the lightest and most ragged,
accustomed to scorching heat, we felt the cold rain very much indeed. Our
teeth chattered, and our hands were so numbed that at night we could
hardly undo the straps and ropes of our loads. A cold night, accompanied
by a heavy dew, followed the rain; and for the first time on either
journey we pitched a tent. During this, Devil-devil, wet and shivering,
sneaked into my blankets for warmth, for, as a rule, he slept outside, in
a little nest I made for him in one of the camel saddles. Such sudden
changes in temperature made any "Barcoo" sores most painful; but
fortunately we had suffered comparatively little from this unpleasant
disease. A beautiful sun dried and warmed us in the morning, and crossing
a narrow salt-lake (probably a continuation of Lake Breaden), we reached
our old friend Woodhouse Lagoon on June 17th, nearly a year having
elapsed since our first visit, August 19th, in 1896.
We were disappointed, but not surprised, to find the lagoon nearly dry,
holding no more than six inches of water in the deepest place. But
curiously enough Alexander Spring, found dry before, was now brimful,
evidently filled by the recent rain, which had not been heavy enough to
fill the lagoon. Here we camped for two days, which we could ill afford,
as already we had to cut down our rations, and before long our meals
would dwindle to one instead of two a day. Godfrey's sickness
necessitated a delay - he suffered from such fearful pains in his head,
poor fellow! Often after a day's march he would collapse, and lie prone
with his head nearly bursting from pain. A drink of strong tea would
relieve him, but when water was scarce he had just to suffer.
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