I noticed that the blacks looked for a hollow depression marked by a certain kind of palm, and then dug a hole in the gravel and sandy soil with their hands and yam-sticks.

They usually came upon water a few feet down, but the distance often varied very considerably.
We were crossing the summit of a little hill, where we had rested for a breathing space, when, without the least warning I suddenly beheld, a few hundred yards away, in the valley beneath, _four while men on horseback_! I think they had a few spare horses with them, but, of course, all that I saw were the four white men.

I afterwards learned that, according to our respective routes, we would have crossed their track, but they would not have crossed ours.

They were going west.

They wore the regulation dress of the Australian--broad sombrero hats, flannel shirts, and rather dirty white trousers, with long riding-boots.