196 TRAVELS IN 
ceived me, no doubt ; but they fuddenly difap- 
peared, and it was to no purpofe that I went 
with fome of my people in fearch of them, 
and called to them aloud ; we could neither 
prevail on them to fhow themfelves, nor dif- 
cover where they were hidden. 
My fituation in the midft of this parched 
defert became very alarming. Confulting 
Schoenmaker, w^ho alone could extricate me 
from my difficulties by his knowledge of the 
country, he faid there was a fpring four leagues* 
farther on, but it would be difficult for him 
to find it, as there were neither trees nor any 
other objeds to ferve him as land-marks ; fo 
that I had little to reckon upon, except a lucky 
hit. However, it was poffible that, by fearch- 
ing the clufter of hills we were about to afcend, 
w^e might difcover the place where the fpring 
was ; and this I accordingly propofed. 
In fad:, after a tirefome march of fix hours, 
I obferved on a hillock eight men, who feemed 
to be watching our couife. We advanced Re- 
wards them ; at our approach they fled ; but 
in a hollow we faw feveral huts, which no 
doubt were theirs. A habitation in fuch a 
defert, in a place which afibrded no kind of 
pafture, 
