IKYING POSITION. 1 09 



At a subsequent period I was placed in an even 

 more trying position. Journeying in a very lonely 

 part of the country, and accompanied only by a 

 single native, 1 arrived one day at a fountain situated 

 in a defile, amongst some craggy rocks. The water 

 issued from different places amongst these cliffs, 

 forming little pools here and there; and though 

 the place was difficult of access, elephants, and 

 other large game, were in the habit of flocking to 

 the water nightlv. As the stony nature of the ground 

 afforded excellent ' ambuscades,' and being much in 

 want of provision, I determined to watch the pools 

 in question for a night or two. 



The first night was a failure ; but in the second, I 

 succeeded in killing a white rhinoceros. After this, 

 though 1 watched long and well, nothing appeared, 

 and at last sleep overtook me. How long 1 slumbered 

 J know not ; but all of a sudden I thought, or dreamt, 

 that I was in danger. From much night -watching 

 mv hearing and si^ht had Lrraduallv acquired such 



/ ( O c- 



an acuteness that, even in sleep, 1 was able to 

 retain a certain consciousness of what was passing 

 around me; and it is probable that L was indebted 

 to this remarkable faculty for the preservation of 

 my life on the present occasion. At first, I. could 

 not divest my.-clf of fear; and, for a while, my 

 senses were too confused to enable me to form any 

 accurate notion of ! lie imagined danger. (Jradually, 

 however, consciousness returned, and 1 could dis- 

 tinctly hear the breathing of an animal close to my 

 face, accompanied by a purr like that of a cat. 

 Onl one animal 1 knew existed in /7<'>v y/<o - /x, 



