How Pleasant It Was To See Such
Country, After The Dreary Desert!
Tracks and roads were now numerous as
we approached civilisation.
The same lake lay between us and the
settlement that had caused Conley, Egan, and myself so much trouble in
former days. Choosing the same narrow channel where I had formerly
crossed, we managed very fairly well. Most of the camels bogged, but some
did not, nor did the horses, and our loads now consisted of little else
but the saddles, and were therefore no great weight to carry. The weather
was lovely now, bright warm days and frosty nights; unfortunately this
tends to sharpen the appetite, which we had small means of satisfying.
For the last ten days we had had nothing but damper, and not much of
that, on which we spread tinned milk which had previously been discarded
as unfit for use, being dark brown instead of white, and almost solid.
Nevertheless it was better than nothing; a ten hours' march, begun on an
empty stomach, and finished on a slice of bread, cannot be indulged in
for many days before it leaves its mark. We were not sorry, therefore, to
reach Lake Darlot township on July 15th, and, choosing a nice spot, made
camp. This day we saw the first white face since April 9th, and our
journey was practically over.
The excellent feed growing all over the flats near Lake Darlot gave us a
good opportunity of recruiting our animals' strength. For nearly a month
we moved slowly about between Lake Darlot and Lawlers prospecting in a
desultory sort of way.
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