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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The Expedition Had Failed In Its Attempt To Reach The
West, But Still It Had Done Something.
It would at all events leave a
record.
Our stores and clothes were gone, we had nothing but
horseflesh to eat, and it is scarcely to be wondered at if neither Mr.
Tietkens nor Jimmy could receive my intimation of my intention to
retreat otherwise than with pleasure, though both were anxious, as I
was, that our efforts should be successful. In our present
circumstances, however, nothing more could be done. In vain the strong
will and the endeavour, which for ever wrestled with the tides of
fate.
We set to work to shoe some of the horses. When Tommy is smoked we
shall depart. He proved to have more flesh on his bones than I
anticipated, and he may last us for a month. The next few days got hot
and sultry, and rain again threatened. If we could only get a good
fall, out to the west we would go again without a further thought; for
if heavy rain fell we would surely find some receptacle at the Alfred
and Marie Range to help us on? But no, the rain would not come. Every
drop in this singular region seems meted and counted out, yet there
are the marks of heavy floods on all the watercourses. The question of
when did the floods occur, which caused these marks, and when, oh
when, will such phenomena occur again, is always recurring to me.
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