Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia By Eyre, Edward John
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We Were Still 650 Miles From King George's
Sound, With An Entirely Unknown Country Before Us.
Our provisions, when
again recovered, would be barely sufficient to last us for three weeks
and a half, at a very reduced rate of allowance.
Our horses were jaded
and miserable beyond all conception; they could literally scarcely crawl,
and it was evident they would be unable to move on again at all without
many days' rest where we were. On the other hand we had still the
prospect of another of those fearful pushes without water to encounter,
as soon as we left our present encampment, and had first to recover the
provisions and other things yet so far away. Nothing could be more
disheartening than our situation, and it was also one in which it was
difficult to decide what was best to be done. Aware that a single false
step would now be fatal to us all, I saw that our circumstances required
promptness and decision. With every thing depending upon my sole
judgment, and the determination I arrived at, I felt deeply and anxiously
the over-whelming responsibility that devolved upon me.
We were now about half way between Fowler's Bay and King George's Sound,
located among barren sand-drifts, and without a drop of water beyond us
on either side, within a less distance than 150 miles. Our provisions
were rapidly decreasing, whilst we were lying idle and inactive in camp;
and yet it would be absolutely necessary for us thus to remain for some
time longer, or at once abandon the horses, and endeavour to make our way
without them.
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