68 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



encounter, or no " die hards " to contend with. On 

 his way to the camp he had picked up the bearers 

 with our blankets and other paraphernalia, so that 

 nothing remained wanting to complete our comfort but 

 the return of Selwin. Some of the men surrounding 

 me, I thought, were with our absent friend, but, on 

 counting them over, my anxiety was much increased 

 by learning that they were all present. Firing guns 

 under similar circumstances is often adopted to 

 recall an absentee, and would have been now ; but 

 what better beacon to indicate our position could be 

 desired than the illumination the flames of our 

 immense fire made in the heavens ? The " boys," 

 I will give them the credit to say, were all willing to 

 go in search of the lost one ; but I could not see 

 what benefit was to result from such a course, and 

 Dillon persisted that he would be all right and turn 

 up immediately. " It is only a matter of time, you 

 see ; he has gone further than we have, but he is 

 bound to see the light and come in, in no time, that 

 is, if he does not prefer to camp out by himself." 



Now, Selwin was just the person for whose 

 safety one had reason to fear, because his courage 

 often amounted to recklessness, and, without being 

 particularly strong, he would undertake the most 

 arduous and fatiguing ordeals that would conquer 

 the most enduring. Again, if thrown upon his own 

 resources, he was the last man to be capable of 

 roughing, and turning to advantage for his comfort 



