We Reached It Somewhat Late.

The day was hot, thermometer 98 degrees in shade, and the horses very thirsty, but they could get no water until we had dug a place for them.

Although we had reached our camping ground our day's work was only about to commence. We were not long in obtaining enough water for ourselves, such as it was - thick and dirty with a nauseous flavour - but first we had to tie the horses up, to prevent them jumping in on us. We found to our grief that but a poor supply was to be expected, and though we had not to dig very deep, yet we had to remove an enormous quantity of sand, so as to create a sufficient surface to get water to run in, and had to dig a tank twenty feet long by six feet deep, and six feet wide at the bottom, though at the top it was much wider. I may remark - and what I now say applies to almost every other water I ever got by digging in all my wanderings - that whenever we commenced to dig, a swarm of large and small red hornets immediately came around us, and, generally speaking, diamond birds (Amadina) would also come and twitter near, and when water was got, would drink in great numbers. With regard to the hornets, though they swarmed round our heads and faces in clouds, no one was ever stung by them, nature and instinct informing them that we were their friends.

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