52 LOSS OF THE 
turning about came back to the spot where the dead man was 
left. At this instant our whole party renewed the attack, and 
after he had received several more wounds, again escaped in- 
to the thickest part of the wood. 
" We now supposed ourselves safe ; but while we were dig- 
ging a grave for our unfortunate companion, the elephant rush- 
ed out again, and drove us all from the place. Tjaart Van 
der Valdt got another shot at him ; a joint attack being com- 
menced, he began to stagger, and falling, the Hottentots des- 
patched him as he lay on the ground." 
The rest of their journey afforded little worth notice. In 
January, 1791, they reached their respective homes, after sur- 
mounting incredible difficulties in an expedition to which they 
were prompted solely by a principle of humanity, and the de- 
sire of relieving, if any remained alive, such of our country- 
men as might be among the natives. No intelligence of this 
kind could, however, after the most diligent inquiries, be ob- 
tained. They were, indeed, informed that the ship's cook had 
been alive about two years before the period of their journey, 
but that he then caught the small-pox and died. 
We cannot conclude this mournful narrative better than with 
the sensible reflections of Captain Riou. 
" Had the party (says he) that set out in search of these 
shipwrecked people, in 1783, prosecuted theii- journey with 
the same degree of zeal and resolution that Van Reenen's 
party manifested, it is possible they might have discovered and 
relieved some who have since perished. Yet, as they could 
not have arrived at the place of the wreck in less than six 
months after the disaster happened,, there is no great proba- 
bility for supposing that, after such a length of time had eL .- 
ed, any great number of the unfortunate sufferers could be 1 3- 
maining alive. 
"But what we have most to regret is, that perhaps the 
failure of the" endeavors of the unfortunate crew to save their 
lives was owing to their own misconduct. It is too often the 
case, that disorder and confusion are the consequences of ex- 
treme distress, and that despair seizing on the unprincipled 
mind hurries it on to a subversion of all good order and disci- 
pline ; so that at the moment when the joint efforts of the 
whole are most necessary for the general good , each de- 
sponding thoughtless member acts from the impulse of the 
moment, in whatever manner his tumultuous feelings may di- 
rect ; and from an erroneous idea of self-jnterest,. or, wonder- 
ful as it may appear, from a desire o/ gratifying a rebellious 
i 
