GET LOST IN THE WOODS. 255 



been kindled by my followers to guide their lost mas- 

 ter tcf the wagons. 



With revived spirits, I stirred my jaded steed and 

 made for the smoke ; but, alas ! this only served to 

 lead me further ^stray. After, riding many miles in 

 that direction, I discovered that the fire was at an 

 amazing distance, and could not have been kindled by 

 my men ; it was the wild Bakalahari of the desert burn- 

 ing the old dry grass. I was now like a seaman in a 

 hurricane — at my wit's end — I knew not how to ride 

 nor what to do. The sun, which had just risen when 

 I left the wagons, was about to set. There was no 

 landmark whatever by which to steer ; I might wan- 

 der for days, and not discover water. 



To find the wagons was comparatively a trifle. I 

 thou^t little of them ; it was the thought of water 

 that harrowed my mind. Already the pangs of thirst 

 began to seize me. I bad ridden all day, under the hot 

 sun, and had neither eaten nor drunk since early the 

 preceding evening. I felt faint and weary, and my 

 heart sank as horrible visions of a lingering death by 

 maddening thirst arose before me. Dismounting from 

 my horse, I sat down to think what I should do. I 

 knew exactly by my compass the course we had been 

 steering since we left Booby. I accordingly resolved 

 to ride southwest for many miles, the course of the 

 wagons having been northeast, and then to send Ruy- 

 ter across the country a little to the north of west, 

 while I should hold a corresponding course in an east- 

 erly direction. By this means one of us could not fail 

 to find the spoor, and I arranged that at nightfall we 

 should meet at some conspicuous tree. Having thus 

 resolved, I mounted my horse, which was half dead 

 with thirst and fatigue, and, having ridden southwest 



