98 
absent and miserable companions to all the 
horrors of the desert. 
This was not a night of sleep, but lament- 
ation. We sat round our fire, and spoke of 
nothing but our absent messmates and their 
unfortunate situation. They were left 
defenceless, without food, hardly able to 
stand erect, and in a country where the 
ferocious animals were most numerous. 
They were likewise every hour in danger 
of an attack from the Boshismen, who 
swarm in these parts, and destroy the un- 
happy objects of their vengeance by arrows 
that are poisoned. The sensibility of my 
people on this melancholy occasion dis- 
played the genuine character of a sailor. 
Men who could brave all the dangers of 
the tempest, and face death, without a 
trembling nerve, even in the cannon's 
mouth, could not, however, speak of their 
distressed and absent brethren without a 
tear. Their own misfortunes were for- 
gotten ; and their only consideration, during 
the night, was their unhappy messmates, 
whom they never expected to behold 
again. 
