September 28th. Half a drink.
Therefore between the 22nd of August and the 28th of September they had
no more than thirteen gallons.
Satan had more travelling, though carrying a less load, than any of the
rest, being used for scouting and finding natives.
On the evening of the 29th I left my work down the well to take some
observations; unluckily I was just too late for the stars I wanted, and
had to wait up for some long time. We had divided the night into five
shifts for baling; when my turn came my companions did not wake me, but
did my shift for me. I am sure I appreciated their kindly thought, and
felt thankful indeed, and not for the first time, that I had managed to
choose such excellent mates - for I had long realised that without peace
and unanimity in such a party, our chances of getting through the desert
would be greatly minimised.
I found our position to be lat. 21 degrees 49 minutes, long. 126 degrees
33 minutes.
By morning we had given the camels another five gallons apiece and had
some to go on with in our tanks, having, by working for two days and
three nights, scraped together 140 gallons in all. On the 30th we
travelled again Westwards, though making some Northerly progress towards
the smoke which Charlie and I had located. We had a long talk about our
methods of travelling, and Charlie thought that I was inclined to spare
the camels at the expense of ourselves.
