poor Bawley, if not of more of our horses, was sealed. Mr. Stuart
and I sat down by the stockade, and as night closed in lit a fire to
guide Morgan and Mack on their approach to the plain. They came up about
2 p.m. having left Bawley on a little stony plain, and the Colt on the
sand ridges nearer to us, and in the confusion and darkness had left all
the provisions behind; it therefore became necessary to send for some, as
we had not had anything for many hours. The horses Morgan and Mack had
ridden were too knocked up for further work, but I sent the latter on my
own horse with a leather bottle that had been left behind by the party,
full of water for poor Bawley, if he should still find him alive. Mack
returned late in the afternoon, having passed the Colt on his way to the
Depot, towards which he dragged himself with difficulty, but Bawley was
beyond recovery; he gave the poor animal the water, however, for he was a
humane man, and then left him to die.

We had remained during the day under a scorching heat, but could hardly
venture to drink the water of the creek without first purifying it by
boiling, and as we had no vessel until Mack should come up we had to wait
patiently for his arrival at 7 p.m. About 9 we had a damper baked, and
broke our fast for the first time for more than two days.

While sitting under a tree in the forenoon Mr. Stuart had observed a crow
pitch in the little garden we had made, but which never benefited us,
since the sun burnt up every plant the moment it appeared above the
ground. This bird scratched for a short time in one of the soft beds, and
then flew away with something in his bill. On going to the spot Mr.
Stuart scraped up a piece of bacon and some suet, which the dogs of
course had buried. These choice morsels were washed and cooked, and Mr.
Stuart brought me a small piece of bacon, certainly not larger than a
dollar, which he assured me had been cut out of the centre and was
perfectly clean. I had not tasted the bacon since February, nor did I now
feel any desire to do so, but I ate it because I thought I really wanted
it in the weak state in which I was.

Perhaps a physician would laugh at me for ascribing the pains I felt the
next morning to so trifling a cause, but I was attacked with pains at the
bottom of my heels and in my back. Although lying down I felt as if I was
standing balanced on stones; these pains increased during the day,
insomuch that I anticipated some more vio