LONG ENCAMPMENT. 
337 
mg this distance, the sheep had been six and the 
horses five days Without water, and both had been 
almost wholly without food for the greater part of 
the time. The little grass we found was so dry and 
withered, that the parched and thirsty animals could 
not eat it after the second day. The day following 
our arrival at the water was one of intense heat, 
and had we experienced such on our journey, neither 
men nor horses could ever have accomplished it ; 
most grateful did we feel, therefore, to that merciful 
Being who had shrouded us from a semi-tropical 
sun, at a time when our exposure to it would have 
ensured our destruction. 
From the 12th to the 18th we remained at the 
sand-drifts, during which time we were engaged in 
attending to the horses, in sending back to recover 
the stores that had been left by the overseer, and in 
examining the country around. The natives had 
told me that there were two watering places at the 
termination of the cliffs to the eastward, and that 
these were situated in a somewhat similar manner to 
those at the head of the Great Bight. We were en- 
camped at one, and I made several ineffectual 
attempts to find the other during the time the horses 
were recruiting. The traces of natives near us were 
numerous, and once we saw their fires, but they 
did not shew themselves at all. The line of cliffs 
which had so suddenly turned away from the sea, 
receded inland from eight to ten miles, but still 
running parallel with the coast ; between it and the 
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