358 SUFFERINGS FROM HUNGER. 



and bundling the rest of my body in as small a compass as 

 was possible, I spent a long and comfortless night. 



At break of day we were stirring. On arriving at the wa- 

 ter, which was not far distant from our bivouac, we had the 

 satisfaction to discover the fresh tracks of elephants, but out 

 of the troop that had visited the place there was only one 

 bull. His tracks were of course selected in preference to the 

 rest, but, though we followed them perseveringly till near 

 sunset, all our endeavors to come up with the animal proved 

 vain. 



Hungry, disheartened, and exhausted, we retraced our steps 

 to the bivouac, where we spent another still more cheerless 

 night. Two days had now elapsed without my having tasted 

 a morsel of food, nor did I obtain any until I reached my own 

 people at the expiration of the third day.* 



During the last twelve hours, I am free to confess, I was 

 almost ravenous enough to eat my shoe-soles, and probably 

 might have done so had time and opportunity permitted to 

 boil them down to a jelly. Contrary to custom, the field we 

 had traversed was destitute of eatables of any sort. Once, 

 indeed, I observed a small antelope, but the animal only seem- 

 ed to mock our sufferings, for, before I could level my piece, 

 he vanished. Seeing the Bushmen try to appease their hun- 

 ger with a bitter woody substance, I could not resist the 

 temptation to taste it, though warned of the consequences ; 

 but scarcely had I masticated the first mouthful before I 

 was seized with tormenting nausea and sickness. 



From our great success on a former occasion at Tunobip=, 

 I expected to find full employment for my rifle on my ar- 

 rival there. But, alas ! now that we stood so much in need 

 of animal food, not a wild beast was to be seen. At first, 



* On accidentally mentioning my fast to Captain Sturt, the distin- 

 guished Australian traveler, he assured me it was a mere trifle to what 

 he himself had once suffered, having been six and a half consecutive 

 days without nourishment of any kind ! 



