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Show 106 NIGHT MABOH- BIVOUAC. barren watte, we travelled until nearly dark, When we reached a rocky promontory, constituting, the southern point of a low ridge of hills jutting into die plain from the north. The rock was poroug trap,, in which no stratification cpuld be made out. Thd mules having been without water or grass the whole day, and our stock of the former being insufficient to give them eVen their stinted allowance of one poor pint, we halted for a couple of hours, and drove them upon the side of the mountain to pick what they could get from . the scanty supply of dry bunch- grass that grew in tufts upon its side. The prospect of water now began to he rather, gloomy; and I was , obliged to put the party upon allowance, lest we should be left entirely destitute. At eight o'clock we replaced the packs upon ' our mules, all of which began to show the effects of their unusual abstinence,/ and rode on till near midnight by the light of thq moofr, in a south- westerly direction, over a country similar to that . we had traversed during the day; when, finding the indications of water grpwing less and less promising, and that our animals were nearly worn out, we halted, and, covered with our blankets, we lay down on the ground till morning, regardless of a heavy shower that fell during the night* Fridayr, October 26.- The poor animals presented thi$ morning a forlorn appearance, having been now without a drop of water for more than twenty- four h6urs, duripg eighteen of which they had been under the saddle, with scarcely any thing to eat. I now began to feel somewhat anxious. Should our mules give out before we could reach the mountains west of us, to which I bad deter* mined to direct our course as speedily as possible, we must all perish in the wilderness. Sweeping the horizon with a* telescope, I thought I discovered something that looked like willows to the north- west, distant about four or five miles. Reanimated by this gleam of hope, we saddled up quickly and turned our steps in that direction. We soon had the. lively - satisfaction of finding our expectations confirmed; for, arriving at the spot, we found, after some search, a small spring welling out from the bottom of a little ravine, which having with . some labour been cleaned out, we soon enjoyed a plentiful, most needed, and most welcome supply of excellent water for all. The whole party being much exhausted from their long abstinence and unceasing exertions, we halted here for the day, to afford opportunity for our animals to recruit their wasted strength upon the plentiful supply of grass which grew, all around us. |
