Spinifex and Sand | Page 6

his horses, which had wandered
in search of food and water, though they constituted his only earthly
possession. How he, and many another I could mention, survived, I
cannot think. But if a man declines to die, and fights for life, he is hard
to kill!
Amongst the prospectors it was customary for one mate to look after
the horses, and pack water to the others who worked. These men, of
course, knew several sources unknown to the general public. It was
from one of them that we learnt of the existence of a small soak some
thirteen miles from Coolgardie. Seeing no hope of rain, and no prospect
of being able to stop longer at Coolgardie, Mr. Davies, who camped
near us, and I, decided to make our way to this soak, and wait for better
or worse times. Taking the only horse which remained to us, and what
few provisions we had, we changed our residence from the dust-swept
flats of Coolgardie to the silent bush, where we set up a little hut of
boughs, and awaited the course of events. Sheltered from the sun's
burning rays by our house, so low that it could only be entered on
hands and knees, for we had neither time nor strength to build a
spacious structure, and buoyed up by the entrancement of reading "The
Adventures of a Lady's Maid," kindly lent by a fellow-digger, we did
our best to spend a "Happy Christmas."
Somehow, the climate and surroundings seemed singularly
inappropriate; dust could not be transformed, even in imagination, into
snow, nor heat into frost, any more easily than we could turn dried
apples into roast beef and plum-pudding. Excellent food as dried fruit is,
yet it is apt to become monotonous when it must do duty for breakfast,
dinner, and tea! Such was our scanty fare; nevertheless we managed to

keen up the appearance of being quite festive and happy.
Having spread the table--that is, swept the floor clear of ants and other
homely insects--and laid out the feast, I rose to my knees and proposed
the health of my old friend and comrade Mr. Davies, wished him the
compliments of the season, and expressed a hope that we should never
spend a worse Christmas. The toast was received with cheers and
honoured in weak tea, brewed from the re-dried leaves of our last
night's meal. He suitably replied, and cordially endorsed my last
sentiment. After duly honouring the toasts of "The Ladies," "Absent
Friends," and others befitting the occasion, we fell to on the frugal
feast.
For the benefit of thrifty housewives, as well as those whom poverty
has stricken, I respectfully recommend the following recipe. For dried
apples: Take a handful, chew slightly, swallow, fill up with warm water
and wait. Before long a feeling both grateful and comforting, as having
dined not wisely but too heavily, will steal over you. Repeat the dose
for luncheon and tea.
One or two other men were camped near us, and I have no doubt would
have willingly added to our slender store had they known to what short
commons we were reduced. Our discomforts were soon over, however,
for Lord Douglas hearing that I was in a starving condition, hastened
from the "Cross," not heeding the terrible accounts of the track,
bringing with him a supply of the staple food of the country, "Tinned
Dog"--as canned provisions are designated.
Wandering on from our little rock of refuge, we landed at the
Twenty-five Mile, where lately a rich reef had been found. We pegged
out a claim on which we worked, camped under the shade of a
"Kurrajong" tree, close above a large granite rock on which we
depended for our water; and here we spent several months busy on our
reef, during which time Lord Douglas went home to England, with
financial schemes in his head, leaving Mr. Davies and myself to hold
the property and work as well as we could manage and I fancy that for
a couple of amateurs we did a considerable amount of development.
Here we lived almost alone, with the exception of another small party
working the adjoining mine, occasionally visited by a prospector with
horses to water. Though glad of their company, it was not with
unmixed feelings that we viewed their arrival, for it took us all our time

to get sufficient water for ourselves. I well remember one occasion on
which, after a slight shower of rain, we, having no tank, scooped up the
water we could from the shallow holes, even using a sponge, such was
our eagerness not to waste a single drop; the water thus collected was
emptied into a large rock-hole, which we covered with flat stones. We
then went to our daily work on the reef,