160 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



hanging over the ravine, the tree gave me but little 

 shelter, and I was exposed to the full force of the 

 rain, which fell at intervals throughout the day. But 

 I had chosen what seemed to me the lesser of the two 

 evils, and must abide the consequences. 



The "evils" from which I had escaped now 

 counted up some twenty in number. They no longer 

 seemed animated by any special fury, but they did 

 seem to consider it their duty to await my descent ; 

 and there was something particularly discouraging in 

 their attitude of sullen, dogged determination to stay 

 right there till I came down, whether it were next 

 day or next week. No amount of shooting or shout- 

 ing seemed to affect that determination, and so, after 

 laying out several of them with charges of the largest 

 shot I had, I desisted from my attempts to drive them 

 away, for I had not cartridges enough to exterminate 

 the whole gang. 



So there they sat all day long, grimly watching. 

 I pictured to myself the horrors of the situation if 

 they should persist in the siege until fatigue or star- 

 vation should cause me to succumb, for I knew that 

 they were capable of prolonged waiting, their nature 

 being so vindictive that they would stay for days, in 

 order to gratify their rage. Even after it became so 

 dark that I could not distinguish their forms, I could 

 still hear them lunging at one another, keeping up 

 their vengeful appetite by frequent quarrels among 

 themselves, and clattering their tusks like castanets. 



I did not dare attempt to sleep, and to prevent 

 myself from falling in case sleep overcame me, I 



