Blooming sheep don't
seem to last you a day; can't ye stop until I get some bullocks up the
track?" Certainly that was the best fresh mutton I have ever tasted, and
no doubt we DID do our duty by it.
By degrees the camels fattened and fattened, until the combination of
flesh and the hard muscles their work had formed, made it difficult to
believe how great the trials were they had been through. The horses were
also getting less like skeletons, though they take far longer than camels
to regain their strength; as a rule, if they have been through great
hardships they never do regain it and are, practically, useless
afterwards. Stoddy, whose back had been bad, was also recovering - this
the only sore back amongst them after so many miles of country well
calculated to knock both packs and backs to pieces.
CHAPTER X
THE END OF THE EXPEDITION
By easy stages and frequent halts we eventually reached Coolgardie, after
an absence of thirteen months. Of these, ten and a half months were
occupied in travelling, during which we traversed a little over three
thousand miles. Of this, 550 miles was traversed by roads and tracks,
whilst the remainder was through country beyond the limits of any
settlements.
