Part 20 (1/2)
Sunday, 9th June, 1861.--King and I proceeded to collect nardoo, leaving Mr. Burke at home.
Monday, 10th June, 1861.--Mr. Burke and King collecting nardoo; self at home too weak to go out; was fortunate enough to shoot a crow.--[Here follow some meteorological notes which appear to relate to another period.]
Tuesday, 11th June, 1861.--King out for nardoo; Mr. Burke up the creek to look for the blacks.
Wednesday, 12th June, 1861.--King out collecting nardoo; Mr. Burke and I at home pounding and cleaning. I still feel myself, if anything, weaker in the legs, although the nardoo appears to be more thoroughly digested.
Thursday, 13th June, 1861.--Last night the sky was pretty clear, and the air rather cold, but nearly calm, a few cirrostratus hung about the north-east horizon during the first part of the night.
Mr. Burke and King out for nardoo; self weaker than ever; scarcely able to go to the waterhole for water. Towards afternoon, cirroc.u.mulus and cirrostratus began to appear moving northward.
Scarcely any wind all day.
Friday, 14th June, 1861.--Night alternately clear and cloudy; cirroc.u.mulus and c.u.mulostratus moving northwards; no wind; beautifully mild for the time of year; in the morning some heavy clouds on the horizon. King out for nardoo; brought in a good supply. Mr. Burke and I at home, pounding and cleaning seed. I feel weaker than ever, and both Mr. B. and King are beginning to feel very unsteady in the legs.
Sat.u.r.day, 15th June, 1861.--Night clear, calm, and cold; morning very fine, with a light breath of air from north-east. King out for nardoo; brought in a fine supply. Mr. Burke and I pounding and cleaning; he finds himself getting very weak, and I am not a bit stronger.
I have determined on beginning to chew tobacco and eat less nardoo, in hopes that it may induce some change in the system. I have never yet recovered from the constipation, the effect of which continues to be exceedingly painful.
Sunday, 16th June, 1861.--Wind s.h.i.+fted to north; clouds moving from west to east; thunder audible two or three times to the southward: sky becoming densely overcast, with an occasional shower about nine A.M.
We finished up the remains of the camel Rajah yesterday, for dinner; King was fortunate enough to shoot a crow this morning.
The rain kept all hands in, pounding and cleaning seed during the morning. The weather cleared up towards the middle of the day, and a brisk breeze sprang up in the south, lasting till near sunset, but rather irregular in its force. Distant thunder was audible to westward and southward frequently during the afternoon.
Monday, 17th June, 1861.--Night very boisterous and stormy; northerly wind blowing in squalls, and heavy showers of rain, with thunder in the north and west; heavy clouds moving rapidly from north to south; gradually clearing up during the morning; the wind continuing squally during the day from west and north-west.
King out in the afternoon for nardoo.
Tuesday, 18th June, 1861.--Exceedingly cold night; sky clear, slight breeze, very chilly and changeable; very heavy dew. After sunrise, cirrostratus clouds began to pa.s.s over from west to east, gradually becoming more dense, and a.s.suming the form of c.u.mulostratus. The sky cleared, and it became warmer towards noon.
Wednesday, 19th June, 1861.--Night calm; sky during first part overcast with cirroc.u.mulus clouds, most of which cleared away towards morning, leaving the air much colder; but the sky remained more or less hazy all night, and it was not nearly as cold as last night.
About eight o'clock a strong southerly wind sprung up, which enabled King to blow the dust out of our nardoo seed, but made me too weak to render him any a.s.sistance.
Thursday, 20th June, 1861.--Night and morning very cold, sky clear.
I am completely reduced by the effects of the cold and starvation.
King gone out for nardoo; Mr. Burke at home pounding seed; he finds himself getting very weak in the legs. King holds out by far the best; the food seems to agree with him pretty well.
Finding the sun come out pretty warm towards noon, I took a sponging all over; but it seemed to do little good beyond the cleaning effects, for my weakness is so great that I could not do it with proper expedition.
I cannot understand this nardoo at all--it certainly will not agree with me in any form; we are now reduced to it alone, and we manage to consume from four to five pounds per day between us; it appears to be quite indigestible, and cannot possibly be sufficiently nutritious to sustain life by itself.
Friday, 21st June, 1861.--Last night was cold and clear, winding up with a strong wind from north-east in the morning. I feel much weaker than ever and can scarcely crawl out of the mia-mia. Unless relief comes in some form or other, I cannot possibly last more than a fortnight.
It is a great consolation, at least, in this position of ours, to know that we have done all we could, and that our deaths will rather be the result of the mismanagement of others than of any rash acts of our own. Had we come to grief elsewhere, we could only have blamed ourselves; but here we are returned to Cooper's Creek, where we had every reason to look for provisions and clothing; and yet we have to die of starvation, in spite of the explicit instructions given by Mr. Burke--”That the depot party should await our return;” and the strong recommendation to the Committee ”that we should be followed up by a party from Menindie.”
About noon a change of wind took place, and it blew almost as hard from the west as it did previously from the north-east. A few cirroc.u.mulus continued to pa.s.s over towards east.
Sat.u.r.day, 22nd June, 1861.--Night cloudy and warm; every appearance of rain; thunder once or twice during the night; clouds moving in an easterly direction; lower atmosphere perfectly calm. There were a few drops of rain during the night, and in the morning, about nine A.M., there was every prospect of more rain until towards noon, when the sky cleared up for a time.
Mr. Burke and King out for nardoo; the former returned much fatigued. I am so weak to-day as to be unable to get on my feet.
Sunday, 23rd June, 1861.--All hands at home. I am so weak as to be incapable of crawling out of the mia-mia. King holds out well, but Mr. Burke finds himself weaker every day.
Monday, 24th June, 1861.--A fearful night. At about an hour before sunset, a southerly gale sprung up and continued throughout the greater portion of the night; the cold was intense, and it seemed as if one would be shrivelled up. Towards morning it fortunately lulled a little, but a strong cold breeze continued till near sunset, after which it became perfectly calm.
King went out for nardoo in spite of the wind, and came in with a good load; but he himself terribly cut up. He says that he can no longer keep up the work, and as he and Mr. Burke are both getting rapidly weaker, we have but a slight chance of anything but starvation, unless we can get hold of some blacks.