Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. I Shall not give a lengthened description of a journey in or with an ox-waggon, through a country whose leading feature is an utter absence of any objects of interest, except to the eye of a speculative farmer, and even he could not but be disagreeably impressed by the want of water. I will sum it up by saying, that we travelled over many miles of undulating country, starting early in the morning, outspauning in the middle of the day, and travelling again in the evening, during which time we were not particularly comfortable. The men generally walked; Jimmy and I rode. It was very rough, although after our first evening the food improved ; but the want of milk was trying. Then, too, it is unpleasant when the weather is very hot not to be able to get a good wash, or to change one's linen often; and these were impossibilities for me, owing to my not being able to induce the men to pitch my tent. The waggon-tent was too much cumbered for even, an active person, nob to say one who is lame, as I am, to perform satisfactory ablutions in; and the absence of trees made an impromptu dressing-room a thing not to be thought of. Sometimes we came to a little shanty called an hotel, and then I eagerly seized the opportunity for awash; but these accommodations were very few, and far between. One duty which devolved on me, many would, I daresay, consider a hardship, but I did not mind it ; this was cleaning my horse. I was a new hand at grooming a horse then, having previously only had the brush and comb in my hands en amateur, and it is one thing to rub down a well-groomed horse for amusement, and another to clean a very dirty and hot one under a broiling sun; but I cannot say that I disliked this hardship, although I used to wish that our outspanning times were such as to al...