NECESSARIES FOR A BUSH JOURNEY 161 



and bushmen generally, habitually use it in large 

 quantities. 



I expected to pass a full month in the desert — it could 

 scarcely be called bush in this country — but the number of 

 miscellaneous articles it was thought desirable to take 

 with us was so great, that the horses could not carry more 

 than three weeks' provisions in addition to their other 

 loads. Although no travelling party in Australia can 

 safely depend for food on the game it may meet with, it 

 was hoped that we should be able to eke out our supplies 

 with such animals and birds as we might chance to shoot. 

 Empty water-bags were also carried, to be filled and 

 loaded on the pack-horses when the expenditure of the 

 stores should leave them free to bear this burden, for we 

 expected during the latter part of the journey to have 

 some difficulty in finding water. 



In every respect I endeavoured to make my little 

 expedition as complete and well provided as my means 

 would allow, taking with me a maximum of stores with 

 a minimum of persons, which should be the rule with all 

 exploring parties in Australia, where the provision of food 

 is the chief difficulty. All being ready, I left Perth and 

 proceeded by easy stages via York and Beverley to 

 Darening, arriving there on the 19th April 1890. 



At Darening, which is a small inland township on the 

 explorer Lefroy's route, we made a halt for a rest and to 

 fill up our stores to the utmost carrying capacity of the 

 horses ; and on the 24th we fairly started on our journey, 

 not following the route of Lefroy and Hunt, but bearing 

 off to the north-east, as I wished to open up an entirely 

 new country. 



The ground was a monotonous plain, with here and 

 there a low sand-hill, covered with a dwarfed spinifex. 

 A few casuarinas were scattered about, and occasionally 

 we saw a stunted grass-tree or two ; but on the whole, this 

 was the least interesting country I had ever seen. Yet 

 there is grass enough here to maintain a goodly number 

 of cattle ; and we passed the first night at the hut of a 

 stock-rider who had three thousand beasts in his charge. 



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