On the 31st January the cutter departed, and Eyre, the overseer, Baxter,
and three native boys, one having come by the HERO, were left alone to
face the eight hundred miles of desert solitude before them.
On the 24th, after a long spell, when they were about to start, the HERO
returned, bringing a request to Mr. Eyre to abandon his mad attempt and
embark himself and party on board the cutter. This he refused to do, and
on the 25th made another departure. After passing the water where they
had met the natives, they entered upon a dry and desolate tract over
which they crossed in safety, but with great suffering. Once more
relieved by a native well in the sandy beach, they pushed on, only to
encounter evil fortune; horse after horse knocked up, and it was after
six days' travelling they managed to get water once more, by digging in
the sand.
They were now about six hundred miles from King George's Sound and in a
most unenviable position, with the prospect of another one hundred mile
stage without water, and the full knowledge that retreat was impossible.
Their horses, in consequence of the repeated sufferings from thirst that
they had been forced to undergo, were so spiritless and reduced that they
could travel scarcely any distance without giving in, and yet the worst
was to come.
Pages:
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261