ng a peculiar blessing
to our souls, but, so to speak, a natural and inevitable advantage to
our bodies. These reflections seemed to me to throw some light on the
passage, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."
But as this is not the place for theological disquisition, I shall not
refer further to that subject.

Not having, then, to travel on the following day, we made up our minds
to spend an hour or two in a place of concealment near the margin of
this pond; and I secretly resolved that I would spend the _whole_ night
there with my note-book (for the moon, we knew, would be bright), and
make a soft pillow of leaves on which I might drop and go to sleep when
my eyes refused any longer to keep open.

The moon had just begun to rise when we finished our suppers and
prepared to go to our post of observation. We took our rifles with us
of course, for although we did not intend to shoot, having more than
sufficient food already in camp, we could not tell but that at any
moment those weapons might be required for the defence of our lives.
Makarooroo had been too long accustomed to see wild animals to
understand the pleasure we enjoyed in merely staring at them, so he was
left in charge of our camp.

"Now, then," said Peterkin, as we left the encampment, "hurrah, for the
menagerie!"

"You may well call it that," said Jack, "for there's no lack of
variety."

"Are we to shoot?" inquired Peterkin.

"Better not, I think. We don't require meat, and there is no use in
murdering the poor things. What a splendid scene!"

We halted to enjoy the view for a few seconds. The forest out of which
we had emerged bordered an extensive plain, which was dotted here and
there with scattered groups of trees, which gave to the country an
exceedingly rich aspect. In the midst of these the pond lay glittering
in the soft moonlight like a sheet of silver. It was surrounded on
three sides by low bushes and a few trees. On the side next to us it
was open and fully exposed to view. The moonlight was sufficiently
bright to render every object distinctly visible, yet not so bright as
to destroy the pleasant feeling of mysterious solemnity that pervaded
the whole scene. It was wonderfully beautiful. I felt almost as if I
had reached a new world.

Continuing our walk we quickly gained the bushes that fringed the margin
of the pool, which was nowhere more than thirty yards broad, and on our
arrival heard the hoofs