| DATE. | HAY. | WATER. | OATS. | PEAS. | MEAL. | MEDICINES. | REMARKS. |
| 18 . | Bales. | Galls. | Bags. | Galls. | lb. | lb. | |
| Jan. 21 | 280lb. | 30 | 2 | — | — | ¼ sulphur | Received on board 6 camels (2 of them males). Washed them and secured them in their stalls. Put sulphur in their water. |
| ” 22 | 220lb. | 40 | 1 | — | — | — | Fitted the harness when required, and rubbed the camels well with curry-combs and brushes. Named the camels and lettered the harness. |
| ” 23 | 1 bale. | 40 | 1 | — | — | — | Refilled the netting with hay, as also the fenders for their behinds. Went round the camels with sulphur ointment, and applied it on all suspicious-looking places. Ceased to issue oats. Littered with hay. |
The treatment of camels when suffering from disease or accident will be given under the head “[Veterinary Surgery].”
CHAPTER XIII.
WATER, AND THE SAP OF PLANTS.
Locality for water.
The whole success of an expedition and the preservation of the lives of those composing it have not unfrequently depended on the obtainment of this precious fluid; and, as its importance to the traveller is vital, so the sources from which it is to be obtained are numerous. Rivers, lakes, springs, and rain pools are the most common and obvious, needing no comment here. Showers of rain often yield a considerable quantity, which may be caught in sails or sheets spread for the purpose, selecting those which are free from the perspiration of men or animals. Deep clefts among rocks and ravines often contain a great deal, and the cliffs by the sea-shore, although there are no rivulets to be discovered, frequently contain cracks and crevices, through which water runs and loses itself in the sand.
The beds of apparently dried-up watercourses should be always explored carefully, as high up as possible, and the stones at the bottom of the deepest pools lifted out, and their resting places examined. A piece of woollen cloth, a sponge, or a bunch of soft moss, will much facilitate the withdrawal of chance finds in such places. Spots of low ground, on which reeds, rushes, or other water plants are found, should be carefully examined, and their depths probed with a strong sharp-pointed stick.
The tracks of wild animals are often valuable guides to water; but careful examination is needed lest the searcher should take the back track, and go from, instead of towards, it. A sharp lookout overhead towards evening will often be rewarded by a sight of the flocks of wild-fowl or other birds winging their way towards the drinking places. Baggage animals and dogs at times show extraordinary instinct in finding pools and springs where they are least expected to exist. We have also seen Indians apparently guided by some singular faculty to its neighbourhood. In most countries some particular kind of tree will be met with generally associated with the presence of water, and growing near it.