Читать книгу Journal of Landsborough's Expedition from Carpentaria онлайн | страница 2

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that the greatest attention was paid by my parties to the horses for the expedition on board the Firefly, and they ought, during the eight days after leaving Moreton Bay, while we had the finest weather, to have done well, if their allowance of five gallons of water each a day had been sufficient for them; but with that allowance they were so thirsty that they did not thrive well. That quantity of water may do well for horses intended for the Indian market, where they can be fattened afterwards; but for our expedition horses, which were intended for immediate service on landing, to be kept in a close hold, confined by the cargo of the vessel, and fed with dry forage (they did not eat the carrots at first, until they had acquired a taste for them) eight gallons of water each per day at least should have been allowed to them.

On Sunday the 1st instant, when Captain Kirby expected to get through the Raine Island passage on the following day, where he hoped to get such calm weather that it would admit of your giving him a fresh supply of water, he allowed our party to give the horses a good drink. On that occasion they drank each, on an average, nine gallons. Towards evening of the same day the breeze freshened into a gale, and about ten at night, when the Firefly was head-reaching under close-reefed sails, we had the misfortune to lose sight of H.M.C.S. Victoria, under your command.

On Monday the 2nd instant the gale continued, and during the night the ship was hove to with her head to the eastward.

On Tuesday the 3rd instant the gale still continued, but Captain Kirby, having got observations of the sun, he boldly made sail in for the reefs, and between eleven and twelve a.m. he sighted the Raine Island beacon, and early in the afternoon he went through the passage, and got into smooth water, where we congratulated ourselves, and were thankful, I hope, to God, for the comparative safety of ourselves, and also of the horses under our charge.