At first he was able to show them one or two that
they would probably have missed, but after they had crossed the Murchison
and got some distance to the westward, the watering places the native had
relied on were found to be dry, and it was only after the most acute
sufferings from thirst, and the loss of some more horses, that they
managed to straggle back to Mount Welcome. Austin's conduct during these
terrible marches seems to have approached the heroic. When his companions
fell off one by one and laid down to die, and the native inhabitant of
the wilds was cowering weeping under a bush, he managed to reach the
little well that the blackfellow had formerly shown them, and without
resting, tramped back with water to revive his exhausted comrades.
Arrived at Mount Welcome, they found the water there on the point of
giving out, and weak as they all were, an instant start had to be made
for the Geraldine mine, where a small settlement had been formed to work
the galena lode discovered by Gregory. The prospect before them was most
discouraging; to the mine the distance was one hundred and sixty miles,
and to the highest point on the Murchison, where Gregory had found water,
which would be their first stage, was ninety miles, but it had to be
done.
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