246 EMBARRASSING SITUATION. 
• 
the chance of saving the lives of our horses ; and yet I 
could not bring myself to abandon so many things 
that we could not do without, and which we could 
not in any way replace. What made the circum- 
stances, too, so much worse, was, that we had last 
night given to our horses every drop of water, ex- 
cept the small quantity put apart for our breakfasts. 
We had now none, and were suffering greatly 
from the heat, and from thirst, the day being calm 
and clear, and intolerably hot. When we had first 
unyoked the horses, I made the man and native boy 
lay down in the shade, to sleep, whilst I attended to 
the animals, and kept an eye on the natives. About 
noon 1 called them up again, and we all made our 
dinner off a little bread, and some of the fruit that 
grew around us, the moisture of which alone 
enabled us to eat at all, our mouths were so 
thoroughly dry and parched. 
A movement was now observed among the natives ; 
and gathering up their spears, they all went off. 
Having placed the native boy upon an eminence to 
watch them, the man and I at once set to work to 
carry our baggage to the top of a sand-hill, that it 
might be buried at some distance from the dray. We 
had hardly commenced our labours, however, before 
the boy called out that the natives were returning, 
and in a little time they all occupied their former 
position ; either they had only gone as a ruse to see 
what w T e intended to do, or they had been noticing 
us, and had seen us removing our baggage, or else 
