82 
MUNGO PARK'S 
Shaddy Walter, the sick man before mentioned, became so 
exhausted that he could not sit on the ass. He was fas- 
tened on it, and held upright ; he became more and more 
faint, and shortly after died. He was brought forwards to 
a place where the front of the coffle had halted, to allow 
the rear to come up. Here when the cofiie had set for- 
wards, two of the soldiers with their bayonets, and myself 
with my sword, dug his grave in the wild desert ; and a 
few branches were the only laurels which covered the 
tomb of the brave. 
We did not come up to the coffle till they had halted for 
the night near a pool of water shaded with ground palm- 
trees. Here I was informed that two of the soldiers were 
not come up ; one (Baron) was seen about a mile from the 
halting place ; the other (Hill) was supposed to be three 
or four miles behind. Fired two muskets every quarter 
of an hour ; one to call their attention, and the other about 
half a minute after to give the direction. At half past 
seven Hill came up, being directed entirely by the sound 
of the muskets. At eleven o'clock saw some lights in the 
woods, and heard people holla : in a little time five people 
came, bringing with them Bloore, the man who had 
gone in quest of the ass. He had gone back as far as the 
Black River, crossed it and made signs to the people about 
the ass and the load. As they did not rightly understand 
