A RECORD RUN 69 
ing my spirits sank. But at length I got my wind 
again and started out more carefully than at first, 
realising the folly of fighting the brush. The line 
led downhill for a few hundred feet, a fairly easy 
descent, across a dry creek bed and up the side of 
the next ridge, higher by two hundred feet than the 
last. It was a repetition of the previous climb, but 
without leaving my line for more than a few yards 
I took my time and picked the easiest route through 
the dense cover. This saved clothing and person 
somewhat but the strain of the continued effort, the 
faintness from lack of food, and the effects of thirst, 
which was now a nightmare, were having an effect. 
At increasingly short intervals I was forced to stop 
and rest. At first a brief halt was sufficient. But 
as time went on each breathing spell was longer, each 
start more difficult. I felt absurdly weak and dizzy. 
My heart pounded violently on the least movement. 
And underneath all other discomforts, surrounding 
and overshadowing all, was the craving for water. 
I had considered the possibility of offsetting to 
Tierra Blanca. But I knew that this like most of 
the other canyons was dry now, and the chances of 
running on a spring were slim indeed. Besides, I 
felt that if I left my line and went down into the 
main canyon I would never be able to return and fin- 
ish the rum And this I was determined, if possible, 
to do. 
So I kept on, making less and less headway, strug- 
gling against exhaustion, against the reaction of the 
