30 
APPETITE OF A NATIVE. 
and myself suffered severely, we could only get 
small sticks for our fire, which burned out in a few 
minutes, and required so frequently renewing, that 
we were obliged to give it up in despair, and bear the 
cold in the best way we could. Wylie, during the 
night, made a sad and dismal groaning, and com- 
plained of being very ill, from pain in his throat, 
the effect he said of having to work too hard. I did 
not find that his indisposition interfered very greatly 
with his appetite, for nearly every time I awoke 
during the night, I found him up and gnawing 
away at his meat, he was literally fulfilling the 
promise he had made me in the evening, “ By and 
bye, you see, Massa, me £ pta’ (eat) all night.” 
May 9. — The day was cold and cloudy, and we 
remained in camp to rest the horses, and diminish 
the weight of meat, which was greater than our 
horses could well carry in their present state. 
On getting up the horses to water them at noon, I 
was grieved to find the foal of my favourite mare 
(which died on the 28th March) missing ; how we 
had lost it I could not make out, but as its tracks 
were not any where visible near the camp, 
it was evident that it had never come there at all. 
Tn leaving our last halting place my time and atten- 
tion had been so taken up with getting the weak 
horse along, that I had left it entirely to Wylie to 
bring up the others, and had neglected my usual 
precaution of counting to see if all were there before 
we moved away. The little creature must have 
