they appeared, and the trembling fear of the natives was painful to witness—­never by any possibility could they have seen camels or white men, though considering the extent to which articles are passed from tribe to tribe, it is probable they had heard of the “white-fella.”  Even to European eyes a camel is not the canniest of beasts, and since these people had never seen an animal larger than a dingo, and, indeed, no animal save this and the spinifex rat, their surprise may well be imagined on seeing a thing as large as their whole camp marching solemnly along.

Putting down the caravan we approached them, and from a mad, incoherent yelling their protestations gradually died down to an occasional gulp like that of a naughty child.  Making soothing sounds and patting their breasts and our own in turn, in sign of friendship, we had plenty of time to inspect them.  An old lady, with grizzled hair, toothless and distorted in countenance, with legs and arms mere bones, and skin shrunken and parched; a girl-child, perhaps six years old, by no means an ugly little thing, and a youngish man made up the trio; all stark-naked, and unadorned by artificial means, unless one excepts a powerfully scented mixture of grease and ashes, with which their bodies were smeared.  The buck—­poor fellow!—­was suffering from some horrible skin disease, which spread over his chest and back.  He seemed to have but little power in his arms, and a pitiful object he was, as we uncovered him from his screen of branches.  Having apparently satisfied them that it was not our intention to eat them, by signs we showed them our pressing need for water—­these they readily understood—­doubtless because their own daily experience is one constant hunt for food or water.  Evidently we had the former with us in the shape of camels, therefore we could only want the latter.  The little child very soon showed great confidence, and, taking my hand, led us over a neighbouring sand-ridge.  The old lady took a great fancy to Godfrey, and convinced us that flirting is by no means confined to civilisation.

Leading us obliquely across the ridges we had just passed over, some two miles from the scene of their hunting, they halted at their well.  To the North of it an almost barren ridge of sand rising to a height of perhaps sixty feet, and running away East and West for possibly ten miles without a break, from the crest of which we could see a limitless sea of ridges as far as the eye could reach to the Northward (a cheerful prospect!), to the South the undulating treeless desert of gravel we had just crossed.  Between the foot of the ridge and a stony slope the well was situated—­the usual little round hole in the sand—­a small patch of roly-poly grass making a slight difference in the appearance of the country immediately surrounding the hole.  As well as this roly-poly, we were delighted to see a few scattered plants of parakeelia, and lost no time in unloading and hobbling the camels, who in their turn made all haste to devour this life-giving vegetation.