Australia Twice Traversed - The Romance Of Exploration, Through Central South Australia, And Western Australia, From 1872 To 1876 By Ernest Giles
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Upon Inspection This Morning We Found But A Poor Supply Of Water Had
Drained Into Our Tank In The Night, And That There Was By No Means
Sufficient For The Remaining Horses; These Had No Water Yesterday.
We
passed the forenoon in still enlarging the tank, and as soon as a
bucketful drained in, it was given to one of the horses.
We planted
the seeds of a lot of vegetables and trees here, such as Tasmanian
blue gum, wattle, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, maize, etc.; and then
Mr. Tietkens and I got our horses and rode to the main hills to the
west, in hopes of discovering more water. We started late, and it was
dark when we reached the range. The country passed over between it and
our encampment, was exceedingly beautiful; hills being thrown up in
red ridges of bare rock, with the native fig-tree growing among the
rocks, festooning them into infinite groups of beauty, while the
ground upon which we rode was a perfect carpet of verdure. We were
therefore in high anticipation of finding some waters equivalent to
the scene; but as night was advancing, our search had to be delayed
until the morrow. The dew was falling fast, the night air was cool,
and deliciously laden with the scented exhalations from trees and
shrubs and flowers. The odour of almonds was intense, reminding me of
the perfumes of the wattle blooms of the southern, eastern, and more
fertile portions of this continent. So exquisite was the aroma, that I
recalled to my mind Gordon's beautiful lines:
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