There was nothing for it but dogged perseverance. It took an hour to get the oxen and cart through a bog a hundred feet across, and the appearance of the party, when they finally reached the other side, was more picturesque than attractive.
Arrived on the other side of the bog, they were obliged to give the tired cattle a rest. Indeed, they needed rest themselves.
At the end of the day they made an encampment. As well as they could judge, they were about eight miles from Melbourne.
“Eight miles; and how far is the whole distance?” asked Harry.
“About a hundred miles,” answered Fletcher.
“At this rate we can go through in twelve or thirteen days, then.”
“You mustn’t expect this rate of speed,” said Fletcher. “We shan’t average over five miles.”
“Well, I hope we’ll get paid for it,” said Obed. “If we don’t I’d better have stayed in Californy. We haven’t any such mines as this in that country.”
“You’d better have stayed there,” said Fletcher dryly, and he evidently wished that his companion had done so.
The travellers encamped for the night in a dry spot among a group of gum trees, and it may readily be believed that all slept well. The boys felt dead tired, and it was with difficulty they were awakened in the morning.