TRYING POSITION. 
159 
At a subsequent period I was placed in an even 
more trying position. Journeying in a very lonely 
part of the country, and accompanied only by a 
single native, I arrived one day at a fountain situated 
in a defde, amongst some craggy rocks. The water 
issued from different places amongst these cliffy 
forming little pools here and there; and though 
the place was difficult of access, elephants, and 
other large game, were in the habit of flocking to 
the water nightly. As the stony nature of the ground 
afforded excellent £ ambuscades,’ and being much in 
want of provision, I determined to watch the pools 
in question for a night or two. 
The first night was a failure ; but in the second, I 
succeeded in killing a white rhinoceros. After this, 
though I watched long and well, nothing appeared, 
and at last sleep overtook me. How long I slumbered 
I know not; but all of a sudden I thought, or dreamt, 
that I w T as in danger. From much night-watching- 
my hearing and sight had gradually acquired such 
an acuteness that, even in sleep, I was able to 
retain a certain consciousness of what was passing 
around me; and it is probable that I was indebted 
to this remarkable faculty for the preservation of 
my life on the present occasion. At first, I could 
not divest myself of fear; and, for a while, my 
senses were too confused to enable me to form any 
accurate notion of the imagined danger. Gradually, 
however, consciousness returned, and I could dis¬ 
tinctly hear the breathing of an animal close to my 
face, accompanied by a purr like that of a cat. 
Only one animal 1 knew existed in these parts, 
