ioo HEIMAN'S DATCH. 



through the tangled creepers, while I plodded 

 wearily on behind with the pig in tow. Two 

 hours of this kind of thing, added to the pre- 

 vious day's work, was more than I could stand ; 

 so we sat down, made a wood fire, and, by its 

 light, divided the sow longitudinally. 



It was no good waiting for the moon to rise, 

 as she was in her last quarter ; so Yepheem shoul- 

 dering one half, and myself the other, we floun- 

 dered on again, to arrive at last at the ruin 

 about midnight, dead beat and starving, to say 

 nothing of being saturated with the blood of the 

 pig, and lacerated all over by the thorns of that 

 abominable creeper the ' wolf's tooth.' Then, 

 after one long pull at the whiskey bottle, I lay 

 down and slept where I was, too tired to wait 

 for the chops which the men were frying by 

 my side. 



Nor were my men much less tired ; for when I 

 woke with a shiver at dawn, one of them was asleep 

 with his skewer of grilled pork almost untouched 

 by his side. Of this I speedily relieved him, and, 

 raking together the embers of the fire, which my 

 men had made under the flooring the night before, I 

 re-cooked the kabobs, and breakfasted, not perhaps 

 sumptuously, but with an appetite that made 

 amends for any defects in the cooking. 



Whilst the men still slept, I went down to 

 the sea for a swim and a look at the country 



