We passed through the
deep sands of False Bay, and after that gradually ascended, getting
among brushwood and young trees; but we saw no signs of cultivation,
nor did we pass one house after we had left False Bay astern of us.
About twelve o'clock we were very much fatigued, and longed for a drink
of water, but we did not find any, although the moon shone as bright as
day. We distinctly heard, however, what we did not much like, the
howling and cries of the wild beasts which increased as we went on;
still we did not see any, and that was our comfort. At last we were so
tired that we all sat down on the ledge of a rock. We dared not go to
sleep, so we remained there till daylight, listening to the howling of
the animals. We none of us spoke, and I presume that Hastings' and
Romer's thoughts were the same as my own, which were, that I would have
given a great deal to find myself safe and sound again within the
prison walls. However, daylight came at last; the wild beasts did not
prowl any more; we walked on till we found a stream of water, where we
sat down and took our breakfast, after which our courage revived, and
we talked and laughed as we walked on, just as we had done before.
Pages:
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242