DISAPPOINTMENT AFTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 153 



skin still more than the rays of sun. We longed im- 

 patiently to take a bath, but we found only a great 

 reservoir of feculent water, surrounded with palm- 

 trees. The water was turbid, though, to our great as- 

 tonishment, a little cooler than the air. We hastened 

 to plunge into the pool, but scarcely had we begun 

 to enjoy the coolness of the bath, when we heard on 

 the opposite bank a noise which made us flee preci- 

 pitately. It was an alligator plunging into the mud. 

 " We were only at the distance of a quarter of a 

 league from the farm, yet we continued walking 

 more than an hour without reaching it. We per- 

 ceived, too late, that we had taken a false direction. 

 We attempted to return to the spot where we had 

 bathed, and we again walked three-quarters of an 

 hour without finding the pool. Sometimes we 

 thought we saw fire at the horizon ; but it was the 

 stars that were rising, and of which the image was 

 enlarged by the vapours. After wandering a long 

 time in the savannah, we seated ourselves beneath 

 the trunk of a palm-tree, in a spot perfectly dry, 

 surrounded by short grass for fear of the water- 

 serpents. In proportion to the uncertainty of our 

 situation, we were rejoiced by hearing from afar 

 the sound of a horse advancing towards us. The 

 rider was an Indian, armed with a lance, who had 

 just made the round to collect the cattle of the neigh- 

 bourhood. The sight of two white men, who said 



