Starvation now commenced to press close upon them; the constant delays had so reduced their store of provisions that they were almost at the end of their resources, whilst still surrounded by the endless desert of sand-ridges and spinifex.  Sickness, too, befel them, so that almost the full brunt of the work of the expedition was placed upon the capable shoulders of Lewis and the black boy Charley.  The time of these two was taken up in watching the smoke of the fires of the natives, or in looking for their tracks.  During the early morning and in the evening they could travel a little, but at night the myriad swarms of ants prevented the tired men from obtaining their natural sleep.  If they stopped to rest the camels, they only prolonged their own starvation; yet without rest the camels could not carry them ahead in the search for water.  On the 9th of October, the camels strayed away during the night, but luckily came across a small waterhole, and at this welcome spot the party rested for a while; indeed with the exception of Lewis and the native, they were all too weak to do aught else.  They slaughtered a camel, and were fortunate to shoot a few pigeons and galah parrots, the fresh meat restoring a little of their strength.  They had long since despaired of carrying out the original purpose of the expedition.  All that they could hope for was to struggle on with the last remaining flicker of life to the nearest settled country.  This was the Oakover River, on the north coast, and to the head of the Oakover, therefore, their worn-out camels were directed.  They could entertain no hope of relief before reaching the Oakover, for the discoverer of that river, Frank Gregory, a man always reluctant to acknowledge defeat, had been turned from the southward attempt by this very desert across which they were painfully toiling.  On the evening that they started for the station, the whole party were about to ride blindly on into waterless country, where, but for the black boy, they would all have perished.  The boy had left the camp early in the morning, and, having come across the fresh tracks of some natives, followed them up to their camp, where he found a well.  He hastened back to the party to tell them of his discovery, only to find that they had gone.  Fortunately he had sharp ears, and hearing the distant receding tinkle of the camel bell, by dint of energetically pushing on and cooeeing loudly, he managed to attract their attention, and then led them back to the new source of relief.  Lewis and the black boy were now the eyes and ears of the party, and but for them the expedition would never have reached the river.