journey?" Harry asked.

"It was a good while ago," the gentleman answered, "in the years 1839
and 1840. Mr. Eyre had explored a portion of the western shore of
Spencer Gulf, and while doing so, determined to make the attempt to
travel along the shore of the Great Australian Bight. One of the first
difficulties that opposed him was the scarcity of fresh water. There
were numerous gullies, showing that in times of rain there was plenty of
water, but no rain had fallen for a long time and all these gullies were
dry. A few springs were found, but these were generally brackish and the
water was hardly drinkable.

"Mr. Eyre tried the experiment of sinking a cask in the ground, near the
edge of the sea, in the hope of obtaining fresh water, but his
experiments in this direction were not successful. By the time he had
advanced two hundred miles, he had lost four of his horses. The
reduction in the number of his pack animals made it impossible for him
to carry sufficient provisions for his party, and he therefore sent back
his only white companion and three of his men. Then he continued his
journey with his overseer and three natives, one of the latter being his
personal servant.

"In order to be sure of water, Mr. Eyre explored in advance of the
party, and sometimes was gone four or five days before finding any. One
by one the horses died of thirst, and the only way the men could keep
alive was by gathering the dew, which fell at night, by means of sponges
and rags.

"The natives complained at their hardships, and one night the two men
took possession of the guns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving
Mr. Eyre with only his native servant and a very small stock of
provisions. They were then about midway on the journey; that is, they
had still six hundred miles to travel to reach the settled parts of West
Australia. The entire supply of provisions that they had was four
gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a portion of a dead horse.
They had to go nearly two hundred miles before finding any more water,
and lived on horse-flesh, with occasional game and fish, and a little
flour paste. Just as they were about to lie down and die in the desert
they saw a sail in the distance.

"They built a fire on the beach as a signal, and, luckily for them, it
was observed. The vessel came in quite near the land and sent a boat to
their assistance. The ship proved to be an American whaler that was
cruising about the Australian