138 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



whirling round and round high up above us — the only 

 living creatures we had set eyes on since the evening be- 

 fore. 



It was now four o'clock ; a kind of hot blast beat into 

 our faces, producing the same sensation as that experienced 

 in front of a furnace when the door is suddenly opened. 

 The south wind sprung up again, and squall succeeded 

 squall — the forest undulating like a liquid surface. 



I in vain endeavored to overcome the state of nervous 

 prostration which had come over me ; the terrible wind 

 which parched and burned us took away all power of will. 

 Our eyes were inflamed, our lips cracked, and our heads 

 heavy, and no one cared about eating ; all we longed for 

 was water, and we were obliged to w^atch Lucien, to pre- 

 vent him emptying his gourd. He was nibbling a morsel 

 of totopo, which he, like us, could hardly swallow. Shelter- 

 ed behind the rock, we contemplated w T ith dread the colos- 

 sal trees round us, w r hich swayed and bent, sprinkling the 

 ground with their scattered boughs. 



The sun set, pale and rayless, as if drowned in the ill- 

 omened yellow clouds. The wind kept puffing and blowing 

 at intervals. A few minutes', lull enabled us to collect a 

 little grass, and then, seated side by side, w T e watched the 

 approach of night, dark, desolate, and starless ; but the 

 comparative coolness of the atmosphere gave some little 

 relief to our exhausted lungs* Lucien went off to sleep ; 

 Sumichrast and l'Encuerado tried to follow his example ; 

 Gringalet seemed afraid to go far away, and crouched down 

 at our feet. Ere long, I was the only one of the party who 

 was awake. 



What an awful night ! About nine o'clock the squalls 

 ran riot with unexampled violence ; if it had not been for 

 our shelter behind the rock, we should surely have been 

 swept away. From the forest beneath came a roar like 



