He said the men had consumed all the water I had left with
them, and were in great alarm lest they should die of thirst; I was
exceedingly provoked at Morgan's neglect, more particularly as the
comfort of the other men was involved in the delay, although they
deserved to suffer for the prodigal waste of their previous supply. But
it is impossible to trust to men in their sphere of life under such
circumstances, as they are seldom gifted with that moral courage which
ensures calmness in critical situations. I made every allowance too for
their being in so hot a place, and it only remained for me to relieve
them as soon as I could. I sent the ever ready Flood for the casks and
provisions Morgan had left behind him, but it was necessarily late before
he returned; I then directed him to get up two teams of the strongest
bullocks, and with him and another of the men left Mr. Poole and Mr.
Browne to go myself to the pine forest for two of the drays. About seven
miles from the creek we met Lewis, who was on our tracks. He said he
apprehended that Morgan had lost himself, and that he came on to ensure
relief to the other men, who he said were suffering greatly from the want
of water. At 9 p.m. we rounded up the cattle until the moon should rise,
and made fires to prevent their escape. At 11 she rose, but it was behind
clouds, so that it was 12 before we could move on.
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