grilled over the fire, and eaten with the hot bread. Generally, however,
they had been able to purchase a kid or some fowls at one or other of
the little villages through which they passed.

They always carried with them two of the large skins filled with water,
in case none should be met with at their halting places; this sufficed
for tea and for a good drink at night, and before starting in the
morning for the horses. The villages, however, had become fewer and
fewer, and at the last through which they had passed they had bought one
of the little bullocks of the country, cut the flesh into strips, and
hung it in the sun to dry, halting three days for the purpose.




Chapter VI.--The Map Again.


"Now," Dave said, as they finished their meal on the evening after
leaving Fort Mason, "we have got to consider which course we had better
take. First we will have another look at the map."

This was taken out from a wash-leather case, in which it had been sewn,
Dave carrying it under his shirt by a string that went round his neck.
It was the first time that the boys had seen it. As Dave opened it they
examined it with much curiosity. It was divided in two; the upper one
appeared to be a general map of the country, the lower one a plan of the
immediate locality of the spot.

"It looks very confusing," Dick said, as he examined it.