I Mention This As A Circumstance Attaches To It. The Fate Of Empires At Times Has Hung Upon A Thread, And Our Fate Now Hung Upon My Action.

We had come 323 miles without having seen a drop of water.

There was silence and melancholy in the camp; and was it to be wondered at if, in such a region and under such circumstances, there was: -

"A load on each spirit, a cloud o'er each soul, With eyes that could scan not, our destiny's scroll."

Every man seemed to turn his eyes on me. I was the great centre of attraction; every action of mine was held to have some peculiar meaning. I was continually asked night after night if we should get water the following day? The reply, "How can I tell?" was insufficient; I was supposed to know to an inch where water was and exactly when we could reach it. I believe all except the officers thought I was making for a known water, for although I had explained the situation before leaving the dam, it was only now that they were beginning to comprehend its full meaning. Towards the line of dark sandhills, which formed the western horizon, was a great fall of country into a kind of hollow, and on the following morning, the seventeenth day from the dam, Mr. Tietkens appeared greatly impressed with the belief that we were in the neighbourhood of water. I said nothing of my own impressions, for I thought something of the kind also, although I said I would not believe it.

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