Page:Tracks of McKinlay and party across Australia.djvu/444

 clothes we stand in and our blankets, those carried on our horses, to be kept. We take old "Siva" on to our next camp, and there he is to die, poor old fellow! he is to be lightened of everything; for on the first onset we have to climb a high and very steep hill, and were he loaded he could not by any means get up it; so this is the reason why we are leaving all our household goods to be buried. I wonder if we shall find a station near enough to send for them—seeds, stones, curiosities of all kinds, some brought hundreds of miles.

Started about 10, and had to skirt the hill, for the horses could not carry us straight over; the old camel got on well. Up a steep ascent, down into a valley, then over another, and so on till we camped. A very heavy day for all of us, as we had to walk the greater part of the time.

We camped at a running stream of beautiful water; there we shall kill our faithful ally "Siva." I shall be sorry to see him drop—he has been such a noble animal. We have a fine shady camp here; fine trees, with leaves twelve to fifteen inches long by ten inches broad; these leaves smoke well, as I learned by one of our party (Ned) coming to me and asking for my pipe. I lent it to him, and soon discovered him blowing a cloud; and happy he looked, with a knowing smile on his face, as much as to say "have a whiff." I was not