232 A SPORTING PARADISE 



" The casual, swinging gait we assumed at the 

 start was soon changed to rapid speed. Men 

 who have run for their lives have experienced 

 that peculiar staying power which Nature supplies. 

 We ran without pausing for nearly an hour. 

 Although it was very dark, and the smoke became 

 painful to the eyes, we managed to keep each 

 other in sight during the first part of our 

 flight. Sometimes we would stumble and fall, 

 when the rocks and low projecting branches, 

 acting like snares, tripped our feet, and brought 

 us heavily to the ground. The flames seemed 

 to gain rapidly, and notwithstanding our efforts 

 to reach the lake, the distance seemed as far as 

 ever, and the blood-curdling roar of the flames 

 grew more terrible every moment. Often we 

 urged each other on, hearing in the distance the 

 crash of falling trees. The sounds intensified as 

 we advanced, but this arose rather from our highly 

 strung nerves than reality. 



u At length I became so exhausted from bruises, 

 copious draughts of swamp water, and decayed 

 vegetation, that I despaired of my life. Once 

 while scrambling over the top of a huge fallen 

 log the weight of my body broke through the 

 rotten bark, and I disappeared half smothered 



