trifles; indeed, parboiled,
youthful, Lowans' eyes are considered quite a delicacy in the camp.

At early dawn there was brilliant lightning to the west, and the
horizon in that direction became cloudy. Thunder also was heard, but
whatever storm there might have been, passed away to the south of us.
In the course of a few miles we left the limestone behind, and
sandhills again came on. We went over two low ridges, and five or six
miles of scrub brought us to the hills we were steering for. Some
pine-clad bare rocks induced us to visit them to see if there were
rock-holes anywhere. Mr. Tietkens found a native well under one of the
rocks, but no water was seen in it, so we went to the higher hills,
and in a gully found but a poor supply. There was every appearance of
approaching rain, and we got everything under canvas, but in the night
of the 9th October a heavy gale of wind sprang up and blew away any
rain that might have fallen. As, however, it was still cloudy, we
remained in camp.

From the highest hill here, called Mount Squires, the appearance of
the country surrounding was most strange. To the west, and round by
north-west to north, was a mass of broken timbered hills with scrubby
belts between. The atmosphere was too hazy to allow of distinct
vision, but I could distinguish lines of hills, if not ranges, to the
westward for a long distance. The view was by no means encouraging,
but as hills run on, though entirely different now from those behind
us, our only hope is that water may yet be discovered in them. The
whole region round about was enveloped in scrubs, and the hills were
not much more than visible above them.

The sky had remained cloudy all yesterday, and I hoped, if the wind
would only cease, rain would surely fall; so we waited and hoped
against hope. We had powerful reverberations of thunder, and forked
and vivid lightnings played around, but no rain fell, although the
atmosphere was surcharged with electricity and moisture. The
wished-for rain departed to some far more favoured places, some
happier shores from these remote; and as if to mock our wishes, on the
following morning we had nearly three minutes' sprinkling of rain, and
then the sky became clear and bright.

By this time we had used up all the water we could find, and had to go
somewhere else to get more. A terrible piece of next-to-impassable
scrub, four or five miles through, lay right in our path; it also rose
and fell into ridges