was more
due to absence of food than to the causes by which I was surrounded, for
when I had eaten I saw everything in a more hopeful light. Still I was
in a bad way; for I possessed no weapon except a sailor's knife, I had
no food and did not know where to procure any, and I was probably
surrounded by enemies.

I wandered down the rocks on the shore and gazed at the distant ship. I
knew it was useless to signal, she was so far distant; yet I took off my
jacket and waved it, till my arm was too tired even to lift above my
shoulder. Then I sat down to think.

As I looked down I saw fixed on the rocks at my feet a shell which I at
once recognised as an oyster, such as we used to procure at Bombay.
With my knife I opened this, and ate this African shell-fish. On
searching on the rocks I found hundreds of oysters, and was enabled to
make a hearty meal. Trickling down the side of the bluff was also a
little stream of fresh water. By gathering some large leaves of a plant
like the banana, I allowed the water to accumulate in these, and my
thirst was quenched. Growing on the shore also were some trees, bearing
a fruit I well knew, and called by my old friends of the Umzimvubu the
_Martingula_. It was very good to eat, and in size was similar to a
plum, with a peculiar flavour. I also saw several bees, so I hoped to
procure some honey, and there was consequently no fear of starving.

I thought it prudent not to show myself on the shore of the bay, for
fear some Zulus might yet remain; though I anticipated that, as soon as
they had seen that the schooner had sailed they would return to their
own country with their proofs of victory.

I considered for some time whether I should try to work my way down the
coast, so as to reach the Umzimvubu and my old friends; but a strange
longing had come over me to once more be among white people, and I
thought that the Bay of Natal would be a much more likely place from
which to find a ship than down by the Umzimvubu district. So I decided
to keep myself concealed on the bluff, at least for some time; for I
need not want for food, as there were oysters in abundance on the rocks,
and when the tide went down there were several pools of water left on
the rocks, in which were fish of various sizes: these I caught with a
forked stick, and so managed to live on fish diet. I was not long,
however, before I adopted a Caffre expedient for obtaining meat. In the
bush were numbers of re