88 QUARTERS FOR THE NIGHT. 



some anxiety, for the natives were evidently in 

 force in our immediate neighbourhood, and their 

 shrill cries kept us all awake, though the day's 

 march had been an arduous one. We had made 

 good upwards of twenty miles : the ground, except 

 in Lucky Valley, was of a most trying character : 

 the thermometer at noon 102°, and with nearly 

 1501b. weight among seven of us, for the sick hand 

 was of course relieved as far as possible. I got the 

 requisite observation for latitude during the night; 

 and since necessity is ever the mother of invention, 

 read oflF my sextant by a torch made for the occasion 

 from pieces of paper bark. It will easily be believed, 

 that I did not needlessly prolong the work ; for the 

 light of the torch rendered me a prominent mark 

 for any prowling savage to hurl his spear at: how- 

 ever, His Eye, to whom the darkness and the light 

 are both alike, watched over our safety, and we 

 spent the night in security if not in silence. 



November 14. — The morning broke, and we found 

 ourselves apparently alone in the solitudes of the 

 forest : no sound or sign indicated the presence of 

 its more rightful proprietors. Did the savage so 

 soon prepare to yield to the advancing movement of 

 that hitherto fatal civilization before which his 

 name, his race, nay, all traces of his rude existence 

 may ere long pass into oblivion ? or did the gather- 

 ing of the night, and the apparent peaceful aspect 

 of the morn, denote that one gallant struggle would 

 be made ere a strange shout of triumph woke the 



