ied by clouds of smoke that almost suffocated me with their
baneful vapour. In this extremity Providence presented to my mind an
instantaneous thought, which perhaps was the only possible method of
escape. I considered that nothing could stop the conflagration but an
actual want of matter to continue it, and therefore by setting fire to
the vegetables before me, I might follow my own path in safety. (I hope,
gentlemen, that during the course of a long life, you will never have
occasion to experience the pleasure which the first glance of this
expedient afforded to my mind.) I saw myself snatched, beyond
expectation, from a strange and painful death, and instantly pulled out,
with a trembling hand, the flint and steel upon which my preservation
was to depend. I struck a light, and presently kindled the driest grass
before me; the conflagration spread along the country, the wind drove it
on with inconceivable fury, and I saw the path of my deliverance open
before my eyes. In a few seconds a considerable vacancy was burnt before
me, which I traversed with the speed of a man that flies from instant
death. My feet were scorched with the glowing soil, and several times
had I been nearly suffocated with the drift of the pursuing smoke, but
every step I made convinced me of the certainty of my escape, and in a
little time I stopped to consider at leisure the conflagration I had
avoided, which, after proceeding to the point whence I set out, was
extinguished as I had foreseen, and delivered me from all
apprehension."

"I declare," said Tommy, "this is the most extraordinary thing I ever
heard, and yet I can easily conceive it, for once I saw some men set
fire to the heath and furzes upon the common, and they burnt so
furiously that I was quite afraid to come near the flame."

"I pursued my way," continued the Highlander, "over the smoking soil,
which I had rendered bare to a considerable extent, and lodged at night,
as usual, under some boughs which I stuck up to defend me. In the
morning I set out again, and soon arrived at a spacious lake, upon whose
banks I could plainly discern the signs of an American encampment. I
hesitated some time whether I should again conceal myself in the woods
or deliver myself up to their mercy. But I considered that it was
impossible long to continue this wandering life, and that in the end I
must have recourse to some of these savage tribes for assistance. What,
therefore, must be done at last,