The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1893-02-08
THE CALIFORNIANS.
BIZ JULES VERNE.

sarily slow. The whites were well
mounted, the negroes followed on foot
From Farina Town to Alice Springs
station it was good three hundred and
fifty miles, and several weeks were spent
in covering this distance. But, al
though the advance was slow, the men,
bers of the expedition, thanks to the ad-
mirable precautions which had been
the best of health and spirits Early
and late in her saddle, sharing the IA
tigues of the march without murmur,
cheering and inspiring everyone by her
indomitable courage and inexhaustible
confidence in her own ability to accom-
plish the mighty work which she had
set herself, Molly lowered around and
about the little band like an angel Of
light and sweetness, like a guiding
spirit deputed by Heaven to sustain,
direct and preserve.
Next to her it was Godfrey who knew
how to work himself into the rugged
but honest hedrts of the members of the
band. The skill with which he rode,
the accuracy of his aim as a rifeman,
and the readiness and ease with which
he took to his life in the Australian
bush were soon all powerful enough to
chase away the last frown from Zach
French's face.
GA wonderful resemblance" he NUT
tered to himself. eff had not buried
little Walt myself, I'd believe that lad
was Capt. Johns own boy"
But if Godfrey's success in making
friends with the white members of the
expedition was such as to carry Joy to
Molly's heart, she, as well as Col
Marks and Zach, was astounded at the
devotion shown to the lad by the half
breeds and Indian guides. To them
this wonderful boy was a constant
source of surprise and delight. His
courage, his surprising strength and
agility, his Craftsmanship, his marks
manship, his kindness and gentleness
charmed and fascinated them. The
daintiest tidbits Of game and the ripest
fruits were laid at the door of Godfrey's
tent. And, to add still further to the
long list of the boys accomplishments.
it was discovered that since he had been
in service on the Australian coast he
had picked up quite a vocabulary of the
native dialects, SO that he now had ex-
perienced no difficulty in understanding
the jargOn spoken by the native guides.
It might not be out of place to state
here that this was far from being the
first camel train that had been sent out
into the Australian wilderness. It was
in 1888 that Mr.. Elder imported from
India large number of camels, togeth-
er with their Afghan drivers. These
animals have done we'll in Australia,
and beyond all doubt it was due to the
fact that Col. Warburton made use of
these ships of the desert that he was
enabled to accomplish his daring ride
from Alice Springs station to Rock.
bourne, Nichol Bay on the coast of De-
Witt Land
If David Lindsay, at a later date, sue.
ceeded in crossing the continent from
north to south with the aid of pack
horses only, it was because be kept
close to the government roads and tele.
graph lines and did not risk himself in
the wilderness which would have been
powerless to sustain the life of his
train.
The expedition reached Alice Springs
station in good form. Here halt was
made in order to transfer the baggage
and supplies to the backs of the pack
camels. Col. Marks took this occasion
to make a most searching examination
of each member of his band, in order to
weed out any who showed signs of
A l.