Even A Heavy Storm Of Rain Would
Leave No Signs In Such Country; Half An Hour After The Fall No Water
Would Be Seen, Except On The Rocky Ground, Which Only Occurs At Very
Long Intervals.
The greedy sand soaks up every drop of water, and from
the sand the trees derive their moisture.
The winter rain causes such a
growth of herbage around the cliffs and on the sandhills - to die, alas!
in a few weeks' time - that one is inclined to wonder if by means of bores
this wilderness will be made of use to man. What artesian bores have done
for parts of Queensland and Algeria they may in the distant future do for
this, at present useless, interior, where all is still, and the desert
silence unbroken by any animal life, excepting always the ubiquitous
spinifex rat. A pretty little fellow this, as he hops along on his long
hind legs, bounding over the prickly stools like an animated football
with a tail. As he jumps, he hangs one forepaw by his side, while the
other is stretched out with the little hand dangling as if the wrist were
broken. Everything must be spoken of comparatively in this country; thus
the ubiquitous rat may be seen, at the most, a dozen times in a day's
march; an oasis may measure no more than thirty yards across; a creek is
dry, and may be only half a mile long and a few feet broad; a high range
may stand three to four hundred feet above the surrounding country, seldom
more; and "good feed" may mean that the camels find something to eat
instead of being tied down without a bite.
For instance, to continue our journey, on August 1st we have "...the
same miserable country until the evening, when a sudden change brings us
into a little oasis enclosed by cliffs, a small creek running through it.
Here we made camp, the camels enjoying a great patch of feed - could find
no water - saw several small quails - a number of grasshoppers and little
bees - flies of course in abundance. Lat. 27 degrees 40 minutes, long. 122
degrees 54 minutes. Cloudy night."
The next day we sighted a big range to the East across a deep valley, and
a broken table-top range to the North. Following down the little creek we
came on a shallow native well, quite dry; crossing the grassy flat in
which it was dug, winding through a thicket, we again reached open sand.
Here we saw for the first time since leaving Coolgardie the tracks of
wild aboriginals, and the first tracks of blacks, either wild or tame,
since leaving Cutmore's Well. Evidently this part of the world is not
overpopulated. Since everything pointed to the rain having been general,
since the tracks were leading in a direction nearly opposite to our own,
and since at the time we had water enough, we did not waste time in
following them up.
That night we were forced to camp on a barren spot, and tied the camels
down foodless; one night without feed does them no harm - less harm than if
they wandered miles in their hobbles looking for it. The weather was now
distinctly hot, unpleasant and stuffy, as if about to thunder; but the
nights were still cold. At midday we saw two fine quondong trees; how the
camels devoured them, leaves, fruit, stones and all! Emus swallow the
stones without inconvenience; apparently a camel has an equally convenient
interior, but he brings them up again in his cud and drops them out of his
mouth as his jaws move from side to side.
Amongst some broken rocks this day, Breaden found a dingo camped in a
cave with a litter of pups. Had we been returning instead of only just
starting on our travels, I should certainly have secured one - not, I
expect, without some trouble, for the mother showed signs of fierce
hostility when Breaden looked into her lair. There were no traces of
water anywhere near, and I have no doubt that the mother, having found a
suitable spot for her expected family, would think nothing of travelling
many miles for her daily drink. Near the rocks I noticed a little
blue-flowered plant with the leaf and scent of the geranium.
The appearance of the country now soon began to get less fresh, and
drier, and all the next two days we were crossing sandhills, the only
variety being afforded by Valerie. She had lately made it evident that
she would soon follow the example of the lady dingo. Though I had
frequently tried to make her ride on one of the packs, she preferred to
trot along at the heels of Czar, receiving from him occasional kicks if
by chance she touched him, which did not tend to improve the pups so soon
to see the light. Tying her on was no better; she only struggled and
nearly hanged herself. She had therefore to walk as she desired. Having
made camp, and unrolled our blankets ready to turn into them when the
time came, Breaden and I experimented on numerous mallee-roots which we
dug up, but in every case failed to find any appreciable moisture, On
returning to camp we found our party had been increased by one - a large
pup which Val had deposited in her master's blankets. It was dead, which
was fortunate, as we could hardly have kept it, and would not have liked
to destroy the little animal, born in such unusual surroundings.
No change occurred in the country the next day, but the march was saved
from its usual monotony by Warri finding two mallee-hens' nests.
Unluckily they had no eggs, though the birds' tracks were fresh and
numerous. These nests are hollowed out in the sand, to a depth of perhaps
two and a half feet, conical shaped, with a mouth some three feet in
diameter; the sand from the centre is scraped up into a ring round the
mouth.
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