n many of the rocky districts the reefs were evidently extremely rich;
but I must confess I rarely troubled to explore them. In other regions
the gold-bearing quartz was actually a curse, our path being covered with
sharp pebbles of quartz and slate, which made ever step forward a
positive agony. Wild ranges adjoined that conglomerate country, which,
as you have probably gathered, is extremely difficult to traverse.
Certainly it would be impossible for camels.

CHAPTER XIV

An eventful meeting--Civilisation at last--Rage and despair--A white
man's tracks--Yamba's find--Good Samaritans--Bitter disappointment--Bruno
as guardian--A heavy burden--A strange invitation--The mysterious
monster--"Come, and be our chief"--I discover a half-caste girl--The fate
of Leichhardt--"In the valley of the shadow"--A sane white man--Gibson is
dying--Vain efforts--Unearthly voices.

When we had been on the march southwards about nine months there came one
of the most important incidents in my life, and one which completely
changed my plans. One day we came across a party of about eight
natives--all young fellows--who were on a punitive expedition; and as
they were going in our direction (they overtook us going south), we
walked along with them for the sake of their company. The country
through which we were passing at that time is a dreary, undulating
expanse of spinifex desert, with a few scattered and weird-looking palms,
a little scrub, and scarcely any signs of animal life. The further east
we went, the better grew the country; but, on the other hand, when we
went westward we got farther and farther into the dreary wastes. At the
spot I have in my mind ranges loomed to the south--a sight which cheered
me considerably, for somehow I thought I should soon strike civilisation.

Had not the blacks we were with taken us to some wells we would have
fared very badly indeed in this region, as no water could be found except
by digging. I noticed that the blacks looked for a hollow depression
marked by a certain kind of palm, and then dug a hole in the gravel and
sandy soil with their hands and yam-sticks. They usually came upon water
a few feet down, but the distance often varied very considerably.

We were crossing the summit of a little hill, where we had rested for a
breathing space, when, without the least warning I suddenly beheld, a few
hundred yards away, in the valley beneath, _four while men on horseback_!
I think t