12 
FORCED MARCHES. 
Wylie did not join them, they set up a wild and 
plaintive cry, still following along the brush parallel 
to our line of route, and never ceasing in their im- 
portunities to Wylie, until the denseness of the 
scrub, and the closing in of night, concealed us 
from each other. 
I was now resolved to make the most of the oppor- 
tunity afforded me, and by travelling steadily 
onwards, to gain so much distance in advance of the 
two natives as to preclude the possibility of their 
again overtaking us until we had reached the water, 
if indeed we were ever destined to reach water 
again. I knew that they would never travel more 
than a few miles before lying down, especially if 
carrying all the bread they had taken, the keg of 
water, guns, and other articles. We had, however, 
seen none of these things with them, except the 
fire-arms. 
Our road was over scrubby and stony undulations, 
with patches of dry grass here and there ; in other 
parts, we passed over a very sandy soil of a red 
colour, and overrun by immense tufts of prickly 
grass (spinifex), many of which were three and four 
yards in diameter. After pushing on for eighteen 
miles, I felt satisfied we had left the natives far 
behind, and finding a patch of grass for the horses, 
halted for the remainder of the night. It was quite 
impossible, after all we had gone through, to think 
of watching the horses, and my only means of pre- 
venting from them straying, was to close the chains 
