514 ANNUAL REGISTEE, 1818 



along the banks of the river. 

 Having proceetled about two 

 miles, we discovered a Iiut, from 

 tiie roof of which, smoke was 

 issuing. To attaclc the poor in- 

 habitants, would have been an 

 unprovoked act of cruelty, and 

 we, besides, thought it imprudent 

 to show ourselves, lest they should 

 give our pursuers information 

 respecting us. We, therefore, 

 ascended a hill v.hich was covered 

 with thickets, and proceeded 

 westward. We then descended 

 by a footpath into a valley, where, 

 at noon, we seated ourselves by 

 the side of a little brook, and cat 

 some beans and rice. On reach- 

 ing the summit of another hill, 

 we observed various roads leadinir 

 to the sea-side. The hills in this 

 part of the island were entirely 

 barren, without eitiier bushes or 

 high grass, and crossed by paths 

 • in various directions. The wea- 

 ther v/as so extreme!}' clear, that 

 we observed a dog running along 

 a footpath on a dist;int hill. It 

 seemed imprudent to advance, as 

 owing to our number and size, 

 the Japanese might easily have 

 recognised us, and yet we were 

 imwilling to lose time. Our ob- 

 ject was to reach the coast by the 

 evening, and after having taken 

 a little rest, to proceed along the 

 shore during the night. W^e there- 

 ibre resolved to advance sepa-, 

 rately, stooping down, and keep- 

 ing a strict watch on every side. 

 We accordingly turned back about 

 the distance of a mile, and reached 

 a hill somewhat lower than the 

 rest ; but, here we were still in 

 danger; for it would have been 

 easy to see us from the high-way 

 which lay along the shore; we 

 therefore sat down among the 



grass and deliberated on the most 

 prudent mode of proceeding. At 

 that moment, we discovered a 

 party of soldiers on horseback, 

 wlio were galloping along a foot- 

 path, in a direction towards us, 

 we crept immediately into a hol- 

 low, and hid ourselves among the 

 bushes, with which it was on both 

 sides covered, and the soldiers 

 rode past without perceiving us. 

 We were now convinced of the 

 danger of proceeding across the 

 hills, for had we not been sitting 

 down at the moment, the soldiers 

 were riding up the hiil, we should 

 doubtless have been discovered 

 and taken. 



The valley in which we had 

 concenlcd ourselves, was watered 

 by a small brook, the bed of which 

 was dirty and filled with decayed 

 roots and leaves. We stirred up 

 the mud, and found some small 

 crabs about halfan inch in length," 

 which were iiiueed calculated 

 rather to excite disgust, than to 

 provoke appetite; but we eat 

 them with as much pleasure, as 

 if they had been the most ex- 

 quisite dainties. Having sat about 

 an hour in the valley, we resolved 

 to advance in it as long as we 

 should find bushes capable of 

 concealing us, and to endeavour 

 to regain the hills by some other 

 road. The valley led straight 

 towards the sea. We walked on 

 for upwards of a mile, and came 

 to a spot which could be seen 

 from various roads. We there- 

 fore seated ourselves amidst 

 shrubs and reeds. There we 

 found several fine young trees, 

 some of which we cut down to 

 make pikes, fastening our knife 

 to one, the chissel to another, 

 and merely cutting the ends of 



others 



