Horses, for almost as fast as the sand was thrown out other sand fell
in; by nine the whole of them had received two buckets of water each,
when the sides of the well again shot in, and we were obliged to give up
our digging operations altogether, as the men were completely exhausted;
to relieve them Mr. Scott and I watched the horses during the night.
November 16. - Intending to remain in camp to-day, I set the men to clear
out the well once more. It was a tedious and laborious task, in
consequence of the banks of sand falling in so repeatedly, and
frustrating all their efforts, but at last by sinking a large cask bored
full of auger holes we contrived about one o'clock, to get all the horses
and sheep watered; in the evening, however, the whole again fell in, and
we gave up, in despair, the hopeless attempt to procure any further
supply of water, under such discouraging circumstances.
For some days past, we had been travelling through a country in which the
Mesembryanthemum grows in the greatest abundance, it was in full fruit,
and constituted a favourite and important article of food among the
native population; all our party partook of it freely, and found it both
a wholesome and an agreeable addition to their fare; when ripe, the fruit
is rich, juicy, and sweet, of about the size of a gooseberry.
