At sunset, after which time it would have been impossible to proceed and when most had given up hope, we came to a nullah running down from the north, and to the surprise and delight of all we found good water a few feet below the surface, and a small quantity of boortsa on the adjacent hills. A strong north wind blew hard during the night, which made us wonder how our tent ever withstood the tension. Two or three miles further on from this place, we came to the bed of a salt lake partially dried up. Here again misfortune overtook us, for some of the animals got bogged, and nothing but an absolute desolation of salt land still loomed ahead of us. The going became so heavy that poor Sulloo on his pony, being unable to keep up, was left miles behind. It is impossible to picture such a barren land as we were in, and it seemed as though there would never be an end to it as long as we pursued our eastern course. We therefore struck a more northerly one, and after eventually getting beyond the salt belt marched east again. In some places we noticed a large amount of yellow soil and in others of bright red. In spite of our manœuvre we came to another dried salt lake, a disheartening obstruction, and when our doubled exertions seemed to be hopeless and our trials at their worst, we saw through our glasses, some considerable way off, a small patch of grass on a bit of rising ground. We were at once inspired with new life and marched straight for this harbour. The grass we reached grew at the foot of a nullah that led over an easy pass, so we allowed the mules to enjoy a few minutes' grazing before commencing the ascent. This grass was quite green, and the joy of the animals at meeting with such food was clearly manifest by the avaricious way in which they tore it off, and the marvellously quick way in which they ate it. Later on we came to a broad, sandy nullah, with abundance of good water just below the surface. The nullah, too, was itself well sheltered from the cold winds by the higher ground on all sides, where splendid grass was sprouting. Antelope had made no mistake in choosing this as one of their haunts to wander into. In order to counteract the results due to such depressing and demoralizing country as we had just passed through, and as Sulloo and Tokhta were still in the rear, we determined to make the most of our opportunity and halt for half of the following day.
MALCOLM AT BREAKFAST WITH ESAU.
This was now the 10th of July and we had reached Camp 51. We were well repaid for our decision, for the following morning was perfectly glorious—not a cloud, not a breath of wind was there to mar the quietude that man and beast at this time so much needed. To commemorate the occasion, I photographed Malcolm enjoying his breakfast just outside the tent, with Esau standing by the other side of the table, holding in his hand a dish of luxuries!
About midday, Tokhta, Sulloo, and the pony walked slowly into camp. They persisted that nothing on earth would induce them to travel onwards another step; poor fellows, they had reached what seemed to them a perfect haven of rest; they must have felt thoroughly worn out, for all they wanted to do was to remain where they were and quietly die. It was quite certain that it would have been madness for us to remain with them, for only a few more days' rations remained, and our only chance of getting through the country at all lay in our coming across nomads from whom by hook or crook we could get supplies. We did think of leaving some men behind, while a small party marched on as fast as possible with light loads in search of people, but these men did not relish being left, and supposing there were no people to find, our situation would have been still more critical. We ended our problem by leaving the two sick men with a pony and a supply of food and drinking utensils, etc., so that if they felt inclined they might follow after, for they would have found no difficulty in tracking us. We buoyed them up, too, with the hopes we entertained of shortly finding people, when we would at once send back assistance to them. We also endeavoured to persuade them to make an effort in reaching a fresh camp each day, by marching and halting according to their inclination, for we told them we should only make short marches, and at each camp we would leave a supply of food for them and some grain for the pony. It was a sad thing having to leave these men and the pony as we did, and when we halted for the night and the sun began to set calmly over these vast solitudes, there was no sign of their coming, look back as we might to the far-off hills for some tiny, distant, yet moving, speck. The darkness of night soon gathered around, and we could only wonder how close they might be to us. The next day we saw new life, for Malcolm had a shot at a wild dog, while I saw two eagles; such sights as these at once set our imagination at work, for we argued as to how could these creatures exist unless people were living somewhere close. At the same time it brought encouragement to all.
Towards evening, after making two short marches during the day, we camped south of the snow range we had been steering for, but there were no signs to tell us that the three abandoned ones were following. More food and grain was left here, and we moved off soon after 4 a.m. It is, as some will know, chilly work sallying forth before sunrise when the minimum registers over twenty degrees of frost; and as one tramps along, marching only two miles an hour with the animals, one eagerly watches for the first tip of the sun to appear, meanwhile warming the hands alternately inside the coat, for we always made a point of carrying a rifle each.
It was my turn to go on ahead to-day, and after a brisk walk of five miles I came upon a most inviting spot. There were two tiny fresh-water lakes, surrounded by grassy hills, with the snow peaks on the northern side feeding the hills below with a daily supply of water. Fearing disappointment in that the water might be salt, I hastened on to the two pools, and, as I expected, they were fresh, so I hurried back to climb some rising ground, from whence the caravan would be in sight and earshot. There the firing off of my gun announced to them, according to previous arrangement, that water and grass had been found.
