In my former journals I mentioned that the spinifex wounded
the horses' feet, and disfigured their coronets, it also used to take
a good deal of hair off some of the horses' legs; but in the case of
the camels, although it did not seem to excoriate them, it took every
hair off their legs up to three feet from the ground, and their limbs
turned black, and were as bright and shiny as a newly polished boot.
The camels' hair was much finer than that of the horses', but their
skin was much thicker, and while the horses' legs were punctured and
suppurating, the camels' were all as hard as steel and bright as
bayonets.
What breakfast we had was always taken very early, before it was light
enough to track the camels; then, while some of the party went after
them, the others' duty was to have all the saddles and packs ready for
instant loading. Our shortest record of leaving a camp (On a piece of
open ground.) was half an hour from the instant the first camel was
caught, but it usually took the best part of an hour before a
clearance could be effected. Upon leaving Ooldabinna we had our
westerly tracks to follow; this made the road easier. At the
ninety-mile place, where I left the two water casks, we were glad to
find them all safe, and in consequence of the shade we had put over
them, there had been no loss of water from evaporation.
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