t us
out. It was most provoking to see the careless indifference with which
they did this, sheltering themselves under the shade of a few shrubs, or
lounging about the slopes near us, to gather the berries of the
Mesembryanthemum. I was vexed and irritated beyond measure, as hour after
hour passed away, and our unconscious tormentors still remained. Every
moment, as it flew, lessened the chance of saving the lives of our
horses; and yet I could not bring myself to abandon so many things that
we could not do without, and which we could not in any way replace. What
made the circumstances, too, so much worse, was, that we had last night
given to our horses every drop of water, except the small quantity put
apart for our breakfasts.

We had now none, and were suffering greatly from the heat, and from
thirst, the day being calm and clear, and intolerably hot. When we had
first unyoked the horses, I made the man and native boy lay down in the
shade, to sleep, whilst I attended to the animals, and kept an eye on the
natives. About noon I called them up again, and we all made our dinner
off a little bread, and some of the fruit that grew around us, the
moisture of which alone enabled us to eat at all, our mouths were so
thoroughly dry and parched.

A movement was now observed among the natives; and gathering up their
spears, they all went off. Having placed the native boy upon an eminence
to watch them, the man and I at once set to work to carry our baggage to
the top of a sand-hill, that it might be buried at some distance from the
dray. We had hardly commenced our labours, however, before the boy called
out that the natives were returning, and in a little time they all
occupied their former position; either they had only gone as a ruse to
see what we intended to do, or they had been noticing us, and had seen us
removing our baggage, or else they had observed the boy watching them,
and wished to disappoint him. Whatever the inducement was, there they
were again, and we had as little prospect of being able to accomplish our
object as ever. If any thing could have palliated aggressive measures
towards the aborigines, it would surely be such circumstances as we were
now in; our own safety, and the lives of our horses, depended entirely
upon our getting rid of them. Yet with the full power to compel them (for
we were all armed), I could not admit the necessity of the case as any
excuse for our acting offensively towards those who