130 COURAGE AND HUMANITY OF ONE OF THE MEN. [CH. VI. 



and I reluclaiitly gave orders to leave liim behind, when 

 Whiting, the old guardsman, volunteered to remain with him, 

 and brins him on after he had rested : this in the face of both 

 hunger and danger, I duly appreciated, and long remembered, 

 to his advantage. We soon after came upon some surface 

 water, and refreshed the tired animals. Precisely at eight 

 o'clock, as I had arranged with Mr. White, a rocket ascended 

 from the camp, and to us was just perceptible, like a needle 

 in the remote distance. That little column of fire, however, 

 was enough to assure the fatigued men ; and it enabled me 

 to mark two stars in the same direction, which guided me on 

 towards the camp. At length we could distinguish the large 

 fires made there for the same purpose ; and by ten o'clock we 

 had terminated the arduous labours of the day, and I had the 

 satisfaction to find, that the party under Mr. White had re- 

 mained undisturbed. Two more rockets were afterwards 

 sent up for the guidance of Whiting, and a huge fire was also 

 kept burning, until, at three a.m. the old soldier arrived safe, 

 bringing up the old horse, which, after resting a while, and 

 drinking at the water, (found by Whiting as well as by us) 

 had come on tolerably well. 



Feb. 19. — Notwithstanding the fatigues undergone by a 

 portion of the party, we were all glad to quit the muddy 

 camp this morning ; and we continued to travel towards the 

 old route, on the same bearing by which we had approached 

 it. The ground was still soft, rendering the draught heavy, 

 and our homeward progress was accordingly very sIoav. At 

 length, however, we reached the ponds, which we recognized 

 as the same we had formerly crossed about a mile and a half 

 more to the eastward, and I noAV named them Welcome 

 Ponds. To these salutary waters Mr. Finch had fallen back, 

 when unable to find any at Mount Frazer. We this day 

 traversed an open plain, extending the whole way between 

 the two camps. I observed, as we proceeded, a hill to the 

 southward, the summit of which was equally clear of timber 

 as the plains, above which its height was 80 or 100 feet. 



