Bight in pursuit of whales, and the
captain invited them to stay on board as long as they liked. They
remained there two weeks, and were then put ashore at the same spot
whence they had gone on board. The captain supplied them with all the
provisions and water they could carry. Mr. Eyre was determined to
complete his journey, if possible, and his faithful servant consented to
remain with him. They struggled on for two or three weeks longer, when
they reached the first of the settlements on King George's Sound."

"Has anybody else ever tried to make the same journey?" Harry asked.

"Not under the same circumstances," was the reply. "I believe that a
well-equipped exploring party was sent out some twelve or fifteen years
ago, to travel along the coast and look for gold. Water and provisions
were supplied every few days by a small steamer that kept near the shore
and went in when signaled by the travelers. In this way, suffering from
hunger and thirst was avoided and the animals of the expedition were
well supplied with forage. The enterprise was not a successful one so
far as the finding of gold was concerned, but I have little doubt that
one of these days gold will be discovered there; and if it should be,
some way will be found for softening the asperities of this desolate
coast."

"I have heard," said Harry, "that a great part of Australia is destitute
of water. Is that really the case?"

"Yes," the gentleman answered; "you have been correctly informed.
Australia, is a waterless country, or, at any rate, that is the case
with a great part of it. The interior has never been fully explored for
this reason, and there are thousands, I might say millions, of square
miles of Australian country where no human foot has ever trod. Many
attempts have been made to penetrate this desolate region, but all have
resulted in failure.

"Water, as you know, is an absolute necessity for man and animals, and
there is a limit to the amount which an expedition can carry, just as
there is a limit to the food that one may take on a journey. There are
parts of Australia where rain seems never to fall, or, if it does, the
intervals are so rare and irregular that no reliance can be placed on
them. Explorers cannot stop to dig wells hundreds of feet in depth, and
it is certain that no ordinary amount of digging will procure water. The
atmosphere is dry, terribly dry, as all who have attempted to penetrate
into the interior will tell you.