34 
wylie’s appetite. 
green, the whole forming a rich and luxurious feast 
for our horses, such as they had not enjoyed for many 
a long day. Nearer to the sand-hills we obtained 
excellent water by digging, at a depth of five feet, 
and only half a mile away from the grass. This 
place was too favourable not to be made the most of, 
and I determined to halt for a day or two to give 
our horses the benefit of it, and to enable us to dimi- 
nish the weight of meat they had to carry. Whilst 
here I gave Wylie free permission to eat as much as 
he could , — a privilege which he was not long in 
turning to account. Between last night’s supper 
and this morning’s breakfast he had got through six- 
and-a-half pounds of solid cooked flesh, weighed out 
and free from bone, and he then complained, that as 
he had so little water (the well had fallen in and he 
did not like the trouble of cleaning it out again), he 
could hardly eat at all. On an average he would 
consume nine pounds of meat per day. I used my- 
self from two to three when undergoing very great 
exertions. After dinner I ascended one of the sand- 
hills, and set the hill I had seen in the morning at 
W. 17° S. 
May 12. — I intended this morning to have walked 
down to the beach, but was suddenly taken ill with 
similar symptoms to those I had experienced on the 
19th, and 21st of April; and, as formerly, I attri- 
buted the illness entirely to the unwholesome nature 
of the meat diet. Wylie was ill too, but not to 
so great a degree ; nor was I surprised at his com- 
