In The Tropics There Is But Little Dawn; The Sun Springs Up
Without Heralding His Approach By A Lengthened Gradation From Darkness To
Night, As Obtains In More Temperate Climes, And But Little Patience Was
Requisite To Enable Us To Commence Our Search.
As many of our readers are
doubtless aware that in Australia no journey is ever undertaken on foot;
that
The real bushman would think himself sunk to the depths of abject
poverty, if he had not at least 'one' horse of his own; and that a man will
wander about for a couple of hours looking for a horse to carry him half a
mile, when he might have gone to his destination and back half a dozen
times, in the interval wasted in searching for his steed. Knowing this,
they will doubtless wonder why we did not bring our mounts with us, and
perform the journey comfortably, in place of the tedious method we now
adopted. It must not for a moment be imagined that the great assistance
horses would have afforded us had not been duly weighted and considered,
and our reasons for leaving them behind were as follows: - From the little
we knew of Hinchinbrook, and from the description Lizzie gave of the
country, they would have been rather in our way than otherwise. The whole
island is a mass of lofty volcanic mountains; and the passes through the
gorges so strewn with huge boulders, debris, and shale, that we should have
been compelled to lead our nags, and thus they would have only proved an
encumbrance.
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