ered in the sky. At about 1
a.m. the distant rumblings of thunder were heard to the
west-north-west, and I was in hopes some rain might fall, as it was
apparently approaching; the thunder was not loud, but the lightning
was most extraordinarily vivid; only a few drops of rain fell, and the
rest of the night was even closer and more sultry than before.

Ere the stars had left the sky we were in our saddles again; the
horses looked most pitiable objects, their flanks drawn in, the
natural vent was distended to an open and extraordinary cavity; their
eyes hollow and sunken, which is always the case with horses when
greatly in want of water. Two days of such stages will thoroughly test
the finest horse that ever stepped. We had thirty-six miles yet to
travel to reach the water. The horses being so jaded, it was late in
the afternoon when they at last crawled into the little glen; the last
few miles being over stones made the pace more slow. Not even their
knowledge of the near presence of water availed to inspirit them in
the least; probably they knew they would have to wait for hours at the
tank, when they arrived, before their cravings for water could be
appeased. The thermometer to-day was 104 degrees in the shade. When we
arrived the horses had walked 131 miles without a drink, and it was no
wonder that the poor creatures were exhausted. When one horse had
drank what little water there was, we had to re-dig the tank, for the
wind or some other cause had knocked a vast amount of the sand into it
again. Some natives also had visited the place while we were away,
their fresh tracks were visible in the sand around, and on the top of
the tank. They must have stared to see such a piece of excavation in
their territory. When the horses did get water, two of them rolled,
and groaned, and kicked, so that I thought they were going to die; one
was a mare, she seemed the worst, another was a strong young horse
which had carried me well, the third was my old favourite
riding-horse; this time he had only carried the pack, and was badly
bogged; he was the only one that did not appear distressed when filled
with water, the other two lay about in evident pain until morning.
About the middle of the night thunder was again heard, and flash after
flash of even more vivid lightnings than that of the previous night
enlightened the glen; so bright were the flashes, being alternately
fork and sheet lightning, that for nearly an hour the glare