One of the women went on with her occupation of cleaning the grass seeds she had collected, all the time we remained, humming a melancholy dirge.

On leaving them, and turning to the point where they said no water was to be found, they exhibited great alarm, and followed us at a distance.

Soon after we passed close to some gum-trees and found a small dry channel under a sand hill on the other side, running this down we came suddenly on two bough huts, before which two or three little urchins were playing, who, the moment they saw us, popped into the huts like rabbits.

Directly opposite there was a shallow puddle rather than a pool of water, and as Joseph had just met with an accident I was obliged to stop at it.

I was really sorry to do so, however, for I knew our horses would exhaust it all during the night, and I was reluctant to rob these poor creatures of so valuable a store, I therefore sent Flood to try if he could find any lower down; but, as he failed, we unsaddled our horses and sat down.
The women who had kept us in sight were then at the huts, to which Mr.
Browne and I walked.