Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-02-27

ious to know what the country was like
between the tracks where my proposed
route had been struck by previous eXplor-
east T fn ws naa fI hnew across 0f so rne cf that !, tr rom
likely to be largely desert. but desired to
definitely ascertain If any, portion of the
cross tracks could be utilized for any pur-
pose. / found that it was for the most part
unInhabitable, and 1 did not see a trace
of gold between Lake Darlot and kimber-
ley.
Days without Water.
"The expedition left Coolgardie on July
9, 1896. with nine camels and provisions
for five months. After Doyle's Well. a set
Element 200 miles north of Coolgardie, We
babe good-by to white men and civilization
until we reached the north. Soon we got
be a il%t. sandy waste, with desert gums
and a few acacia and o,ner shrubs that the
camels coGld eat. There was an abundance
with points as sharp as needles. This kind
of country. a~iternated, with rolling sand
ridges, continued TO about the middle of
the colony. There were very few hills, only
low sandstone t~ablelands. During this part
of our journey we had the longest dry
stages. the camels going thirteen-and a half
a pretty hard time, with only about a pint
of water daily for each man.
1T was only through catching a native
that We succeeded in finding water. our
prisoner was very unwilling to render us
any assistance. He first took us To IL dry
well. and then tried TO escape. leaving us
to perish, hut We recaptured him.. and even
tualiy ne took us to water. Ter crossing
the trail of Sir John Forrest, who Travelled
from west to east of the colony in 1876. We
continued due north, and got into a Spini-
feX country, almost bare of other vegeta-
ton. with very few trees, and covered
with round pebbles of ironstone gravel.
varying from the size of u pea to that of
an egg. There was no water except the
scanty supply in the small native wells.
After passing Giles track 1S16p the same
kind of country continued until lat. 22.4o.
and then We got into sand ridges far worse
than anything we had encountered before.
The land was almost barren. and the ridge,
ran parallel with great regularity nearly
due east and west. SO that in crossing
them We were going as it We're against the
grain. The ridges varied in height from
20 feet to 100 feet, and it was terrible work
going over them. The weather, too. was
hotter than l had ever known it before.
even in Coolgardie.. and IS piece of go
miles was the hardest part of the eXpe-
dition.
The Native Blacks.
I'm this country we met very small tribes
of wandering blacks. They are nomadic.
and this may be explained by the fact that
| their wells soon become exhausted, and
order to obtain water. Their method of
| hunting, too, causes them to be always
moving. They set light to a tract of spini-
| feX and then surround the burning brush
and throw sticks and spears at the lizards
and rats that try to escape. Naturally in
Il very short time the country gets burnt
Up.
Speaking of the natives in the interior
Mr.. Carnegie said: The people are very
dark. and add to their blackness by smear
ing themselves with grease and ashes. a
fact which makes their presence known at
n considerable distance. They are very
ugly-more like monkeys than anything
else. with their fiat foreheads and pro-
truding lips. AS a rule they are very thin,
and of small stature-on two occasions only
Men. women and children are all stark
naked. They make no houses. and have
no villages. They simply scoop out a hole
in the sand and squat in 1t. When they
| first saw our camels and caravans they
were greatly excited. never having seen
a white man before. We never suffered
any hurt from them. but when any of them
doubt would have proved trouble
some if they. had been given much
opportunity. They are only one degree re-
moved from nimal
1T was only from the smoke caused by
their hunting fires that we were able to
track them. and so find water. After fol-
lowing their smoke we would suddenly
ing in their holes. with their spare weapons
hung up in the few surrounding parched up
trees"
Result of the Journey.
Continuing the account of his journey.
Mr.. Carnegie added:
After a time we came upon bare. rocky
hills. from which small creeks ran into the
! sand. At the head of these creeks water
desert continued to within eighty miles of
! the end of OUr iOurnev. AS We aDDrOaChed