We halted at the first pool we came to and the men, who had a little flour left, boiled two tablespoonfuls of this in about a pint and a half of water, thus making what they called soup.  In the meantime Kaiber came in and told me that he had found some holes in which the natives had, according to their custom, buried a store of By-yu nuts,* and he at the same time requested permission to steal them.

(Footnote.  The nut of the Zamia tree.)

I reflected for some time on his proposal; I was reluctant to mark the first approach of civilized man to this country of a savage race by an unprovoked act of pillage and robbery; yet we were now in the desert, on the point of perishing for want of food, the pangs of hunger gnawing us even in our very sleep, and with the means of temporary relief at hand.  I asked myself if I should be acting justly or humanely by the others, whose lives were at stake if I allowed them to pass by the store, which seemed providentially offered to us, without pointing it out.

In my perplexity I turned to Kaiber:  his answer was, “If we take all, this people will be angered greatly; they will say, ’What thief has stolen here:  track his footsteps, spear him through the heart; wherefore has he stolen our hidden food?’ But if we take what is buried in one hole they will say, ’Hungry people have been here; they were very empty, and now their bellies are full; they may be sorcerers; now they will not eat us as we sleep.’” Good, it is good, Kaiber,” I replied; “come with me and we will rob one hole.”  And accordingly we went and took the contents of one, leaving three others undisturbed.  I brought back these nuts to the men and we shared them amongst us.

We were so weary that we did not start until late in the afternoon, and then travelled south by east down the course of the river, making about six miles.  It was joined by many small tributaries and now became a running stream flowing through a deep grassy valley in which were many large flats.  In the course of the afternoon some of the men had a shot at a native dog; he was a fine fat fellow; but they were unsuccessful and never did I feel more disappointed than when I saw him cantering away desperately frightened but perfectly uninjured.  I was sufficiently fortunate to shoot a hawk just before nightfall, and we then halted by the side of the river, lighted our fires, and laid down to sleep.

April 15.

In the course of the night I had cooked the hawk which I shot yesterday and before starting divided it as follows:  I gave the head, entrails, and shanks to the native; then cutting the residue in half I gave one part to Hackney, who had so generously shared his morsel of damper with me, and kept the remaining portion for myself.  Poor Hackney’s wan and wasted countenance glowed with pleasure when this acceptable gift was placed in his hands, and I felt no slight degree of satisfaction in having an opportunity of showing him that I felt grateful for his act of generosity to me.