off at all, as they unfasten the hobble from one leg and put both on the other, so that the poor brutes always have to carry them on one leg when they are travelling.  I quickly put a stop to this, but Coogee Mahomet exclaimed, “Oh, master! you mustn’t take off a hobble, camel he keek, he keek, you mustn’t.”  To which I replied, “Let him kick, and I hope he will kick you to death first, so that there will be one Afghan less in the world, but every hobble shall come off every camel every day.”  This Coogee was a most amusing though lazy, indolent beggar.  He never ceased to brag of what he could make camels do; he wished to ingratiate himself with me in the hope I would take him with me, but I had already determined to have only one of his countrymen.  He said if he came with me he could make the camels go 200, 300, 400 or 500 miles with heavy loads without water, by just talking to them in his language.  He used to say, “You know, master, camel he know me, and my countrymen; camel he un’stand my language, he no like Englishman, Englishman, he no un’stand riding camel, he no un’stand loading camel, only my countryman he un’stand camel,” etc., etc.; but with all his bragging about the camels going so long without water, when we had been only four days gone from Beltana, Saleh and Coogee had held a council and decided that I must be remonstrated with, in consequence of my utter ignorance, stupidity, and reckless treatment of the camels.  Accordingly on the fourth morning, the weather having been delightfully cool and the camels not requiring any water, Coogee came to me and said, “Master, when you water camel?” “What?” I said with unfeigned astonishment, “Water the camels?  I never heard of such a thing, they will get no water until they reach Port Augusta.”  This completely upset Mr. Coogee, and he replied, “What! no water till Port Gusta? camel he can’t go, camel he always get water three, four time from Beltana to Port Gusta.”  “Well,” I said, “Coogee, they will get none now with me till they walk to Port Augusta for it.”  Then Coogee said, “Ah!  Mr. Gile, you very smart master, you very clever man, only you don’t know camel, you’ll see you’ll kill all Sir Thomas Elder camel; you’ll no get Perth, you and all you party, and all you camel die; you’ll see, you’ll see; you no give poor camel water, camel he die, then where you be?” I was rather annoyed and said, “You stupid ass, it was only yesterday you said you could take camels, 300, 400, 500 miles without water, with heavy loads, and now they have no loads and we have only come about seventy miles, you say they will die if I don’t give them water.  How is it that all your countrymen continually brag of what camels can do, and yet, when they have been only three days without water, you begin to cry out that they want it?”

To this he only condescended to reply, “Ah! ah! you very clever, you’ll see.”  Of course the camels went to the port just as well without water as with it.  Alec Ross overtook us on the road, and brought a special little riding-camel (Reechy) for me.  I got rid of Mr. Coogee before we arrived at the port.  We remained a little over a week, as all the loads had to be arranged and all the camels’ pack-saddles required re-arranging.  Saleh and another of his countryman who happened to be there, worked hard at this, while the rest of the party arranged the loads.