Here We Watered Our Animals And Replenished Our Tanks And Bags;
And A Nice Job We Had To Make Some
Of the camels approach the pool; on
either side were steep cliffs, and to reach the water numerous cracks
and
Gaps in the bed-rock had to be crossed, not wide or deep, but
sufficiently so to scare Bluey and some of the others. The open desert
life seems to make camels, and horses too, very nervous when anything
the least unusual has to be faced. The echoes amongst the rocks, and
the rather gloomy gorges, seemed to make them "jumpy"; a stone
rattling down behind them would be sufficient to cause a panic.
Leaving the pool, we followed the gorge until it ran out as a deep,
sandy channel down the valley formed by the horseshoe of the ranges.
The ranges I named the Erica Ranges, after one of my sisters. All
along the banks of the creek splendid green acacia and grass was
growing, and a most inviting-looking plant standing some six feet
high, with greenish-grey stems and leaves, and a flower not unlike
wallflower. Such a place at once suggested camping, and we were
proceeding to unload when Godfrey remarked that this pretty plant was
very like a most deadly Queensland poison plant; he was not sure; I had
never seen it before, nor had Breaden. The risk, however, was too great;
it might be poison; I could see the camels eyeing its fresh charms, and
it grew in such profusion that all would be devouring it in a few
minutes.
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