This was no place to tarry in the hot sun, so the ox was killed and the carcass distributed among the wagons.

So little draft was required that the remaining oxen took the wagon down.

When within two or three miles of the water hole one of Arcane's oxen also failed and lay down, so they turned him out and when he had rested a little he came on again for a while, but soon lay down again.
Arcane took a bucket of water back from camp and after drinking it and resting awhile the ox was driven down to the spring.
This night we had another meeting to decide upon our course and determine what to do.

At this meeting no one was wiser than another, for no one had explored the country and knew what to expect.

The questions that now arose were "How long can we endure this work in this situation?
How long will our oxen be able to endure the great hardship on the small nourishment they receive?
How long can we provide ourselves with food ?" We had a few small pieces of dry bread.