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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We Had Been Riding
From Morning Until Night, And We Had Neither Found Water Nor Reached
The Mountain.
We returned to our last night's camp, where the sand had
all fallen into the well, and we had our last night's performance with
the quart pot to do over again.
In the morning I decided to send Mr. Tietkens back to the camp to
bring the party here, while I went to the mountain to search for
water. We now discovered we had brought but a poor supply of food, and
that a hearty supper would demolish the lot, so we had to be sadly
economical. When we got our horses the next morning we departed, each
on his separate errand - Mr. Tietkens for the camp, I for the mountain.
I made a straight course for it, and in three or four miles found the
country exceedingly scrubby. At ten miles I came upon a number of
native huts, which were of large dimensions and two-storied; by this I
mean they had an upper attic, or cupboard recess. When the natives
return to these, I suppose they know of some water, or else get it out
of the roots of trees. The scrubs became thicker and thicker, and only
at intervals could the mountain be seen. At a spot where the natives
had burnt the old grass, and where some new rich vegetation grew, I
gave my horse the benefit of an hour's rest, for he had come
twenty-two miles.
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