mpossible to say what clues to water were passed
by unwittingly.

Starvation now commenced to press close upon them; the constant delays
had so reduced their store of provisions that they were almost at the end
of their resources, whilst still surrounded by the endless desert of
sand-ridges and spinifex. Sickness, too, befel them, so that almost the
full brunt of the work of the expedition was placed upon the capable
shoulders of Lewis and the black boy Charley. The time of these two was
taken up in watching the smoke of the fires of the natives, or in looking
for their tracks. During the early morning and in the evening they could
travel a little, but at night the myriad swarms of ants prevented the
tired men from obtaining their natural sleep. If they stopped to rest the
camels, they only prolonged their own starvation; yet without rest the
camels could not carry them ahead in the search for water. On the 9th of
October, the camels strayed away during the night, but luckily came
across a small waterhole, and at this welcome spot the party rested for a
while; indeed with the exception of Lewis and the native, they were all
too weak to do aught else. They slaughtered a camel, and were fortunate
to shoot a few pigeons and galah parrots, the fresh meat restoring a
little of their strength. They had long since despaired of carrying out
the original purpose of the expedition. All that they could hope for was
to struggle on with the last remaining flicker of life to the nearest
settled country. This was the Oakover River, on the north coast, and to
the head of the Oakover, therefore, their worn-out camels were directed.
They could entertain no hope of relief before reaching the Oakover, for
the discoverer of that river, Frank Gregory, a man always reluctant to
acknowledge defeat, had been turned from the southward attempt by this
very desert across which they were painfully toiling. On the evening that
they started for the station, the whole party were about to ride blindly
on into waterless country, where, but for the black boy, they would all
have perished. The boy had left the camp early in the morning, and,
having come across the fresh tracks of some natives, followed them up to
their camp, where he found a well. He hastened back to the party to tell
them of his discovery, only to find that they had gone. Fortunately he
had sharp ears, and hearing the distant receding tinkle of the camel
bell, by dint of energetically pus