ome after us," he said.

The captain resolved to follow Bendigo's advice, but not to separate
until they had proceeded some little way farther westward; so that the
blacks, when they should discover their trail, would be influenced by
the number of persons forming the party, and not venture to follow them.

A strict watch was, of course, kept during the night. Paul, his
brother, and cousins, notwithstanding the noise, slept like tops. At
the hour proposed the horses were caught and the party mounted.

The explorers crossed the bed of the river some way to the north, at a
distance from the blacks' camp, and, as the ground was level, were able
to make good progress. At noon they stopped at a water-hole, which,
though very muddy, enabled them to give a draught to their horses; but,
unless it could be filtered, they felt no inclination to drink it
themselves, their water-bottles being full. A fire was lighted, and
some pigeons and other birds shot and cooked.

The two parties now separated, the captain pointing out the course Mr
Hayward was to take, while he struck more to the northward. What
adventures might they not encounter before they again met!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

STOP AT A SHEPHERD'S HUT--SUFFERINGS FROM WANT OF WATER--MR HAYWARD
TAKEN ILL--RETURN TO THE HUT--THE YOUNG EXPLORERS PROCEED ALONE.

The captain's party was soon lost sight of. The boys rode on in high
spirits. In spite of the heat the air felt pure and bracing. The
scenery for miles, however, was unvarying--everywhere the same gigantic
gum-trees were to be seen; but vast as were their limbs, they afforded
but little shade. Some were scathed and leafless, from others hung in
tatters long strips of bark, giving them a peculiar, ragged appearance.
In the evening they reached the hut of a shepherd. On account of the
blacks there were two hut-keepers, sturdy fellows, well-armed. They
said that further west there were no other white men, and as they
themselves had never been more than a few miles from their hut in that
direction they knew nothing of the country, but that there was a
water-hole at the extreme limit of the station in the direction the
explorers were proceeding. It was full, the shepherd said, when he was
last there, but he could give them no other information. He and his
mate would be very happy to accommodate them for the night; but Mr
Hayward, after surveying the interior of the hut, replied that he and
his party would no