A Boy Crusoe; or, The Golden Treasure of the Virgin Islands

by Harriet L. Smith

  *CHAPTER XI.*

  _*The Cave on the Mountain; A Beacon; Attacked by Wild Pigs*_*.*

  After breakfast the following morning, I cut a large quantity of fine,long grass, which I proceeded to make into large bunches, all I couldhold in my hands, tieing them with wisps of the grass itself. Then Icut two forked stakes and set them into the ground about ten feet apart.Going a few rods up the bank of the stream where I saw some bamboosgrowing, I cut one, and trimming it, carried it to the camp, and placedit, one end in each of the forks of the stakes.

  Taking the grass I went to the edge of the beach and thoroughlysaturated it in the salt water after which I carried it to the camp, andparting each bunch in the middle, I hung them over the pole.

  The idea proved highly successful, for the hot sun evaporated the watervery quickly, leaving particles of salt clinging to the grass throughouteach bunch.

  I then gathered a quantity of broad leaves which I laid on the ground sothat their edges over-lapped, and by gently shaking the bunches of grassthe salt fell upon the leaves in a fine white shower.

  I repeated the process several times until I must have had fully half apound of salt.

  Preparing a short piece of bamboo by plugging one end as I had done inmaking the box for the tinder, I carefully gathered up the salt andpoured it into the bamboo, enough to last a long time.

  I had determined to go no further along the coast, but to follow thecourse of the stream to its source which I judged must be among themountains which seemed to extend across the northeast corner of theisland. This I wished to do along the opposite bank, but, as I couldnot cross the stream at this point, I decided to follow the bank onwhich I now was, rather than take the time necessary to construct araft.

  If I followed the stream to its source I should reach the mountains, andbesides, have gained a fair idea of the island in all but the extremesouth-eastern part. From the tops of some of the mountains, I believedthat I could gain a very good view of the small portion untraversed, orrather not encircled by my route, which could not be very great. If theisland was inhabited anywhere in that direction, I believed I should seesome signs from the tops of the mountains.

  I really had no faith that the island was inhabited, for, beingcomparatively small, if there were people there I must have met somesigns, ere this, to indicate it.

  I had another object in wishing to reach the mountains, which was to seeif any land was in sight to the south, east and southeast. One thing Iwas perfectly sure of, that this island was near the Virgin group,perhaps a little north of those islands, if not even one of them; sothat, if people did not regularly inhabit it, there must be islands notfar away that were inhabited, and people must, therefore, occasionallyvisit my island.

  I felt, moreover, anxious to reach the mountains as quickly as possible,because, as I had calculated from my limited knowledge of the climate,the rainy season must soon set in, which would make travel unpleasant,if not difficult or impossible. And besides, I wished to be away fromthe lowlands of the coast during heavy rains, as I knew it could not beso healthful as the mountains.

  So, getting my effects together, I set out, following the course of thestream.

  For the first few miles the stream flowed across a flat country, whichbecame rocky the further I went, and the stream became more rapid in itsflow.

  Several pretty cascades were passed and, in places, I was obliged to dosome sharp scrambling over rocks that were overgrown with creepingvines, among which convolvuli were conspicuous.

  For four days I continued to ascend the stream, until lofty hills beganto rise on either side abruptly from the banks; which indicated that Iwas getting very near the mountains.

  The sides of the foot-hills were heavily wooded, but, as I left them andentered the mountains, gradually ascending to a higher altitude, thevegetation grew less dense and changed in its general appearance.

  The stream was now little more than a small rushing mountain torrent,foaming over the rocks. At the end of the fifth day, just beforesunset, I reached the source of the stream, for coming suddenly to awall of rock above which the mountain rose precipitously, I beheld thebrook bubbling forth from the bowels of the mountains. I decided tocamp here for the night, and proceeded about my usual preparations forgetting supper. I had no yams, but plenty of oranges; but presently Isaw some yam vines growing a short distance away, and it was the work ofa few minutes only to procure enough for supper and breakfast.

  When I awoke in the morning the sky was partially overcast. As I hadcalculated, the rainy season was undoubtedly about to set in, and Iresolved to hasten to the top of one of the mountains as quickly aspossible, as I felt that, upon the outlook from the highest elevationdepended my plans for a considerable time in the future.

  So, hastily preparing and eating my morning meal, I climbed to the topof the rock which rose above my camping place, and saw that the highestmountain was not more than five miles away. I set out at once. The waywas not difficult except where it led across a deep ravine at the footof the mountain, where the undergrowth and creepers formed a densetangle; but once through this, I found the way almost clear of low bush.I now began a steep climb. As I ascended, the cocoanut trees becameless plentiful, and their places were taken by other species of palm,great ferns as large as trees, and giant cacti.

  As nearly as I could tell, with the sun partly obscured by clouds, itwas near mid-day when I came upon a broad table-land of grass, dottedhere and there with groves of trees. Beyond, rose the last peak.Fearing rain, I pushed forward, resolving to reach the top before dark,and camp, so as to be ready to take observations early the next morning.

  It was quite dark when I came to the summit. I could see nothing, ofcourse, until daylight, and I searched about for a place to camp. Therewas a strong breeze blowing and the air was quite cool, so I foundshelter behind a great boulder and prepared to spend the night. I stillhad a few yams with me, and three turtles' eggs, and these I cooked andate. I then proceeded to make myself as comfortable as possible bylying close to the rock, and, having nothing else to do, I went tosleep, the long climb having wearied me.

  Once or twice during the night I awoke feeling very chilly, and I wasnot sorry when the first faint gleam of dawn appeared.

  The sun rose clear, but, to the south-east, fleecy clouds were scuddingalong toward the land. In all directions, however, the line of thehorizon was distinctly visible, and the peak commanded a view of the seaat all points of the compass, and of the whole island.

  I scanned the line of sea and sky all around, but saw nothing thatlooked like land. A little to the south-east there was a faint,serrated line against the sky, but I concluded that it was only a cloud.

  As I stood scanning the great rim of the ocean, there came to me astrong feeling that I would like to establish a beacon on the summit,one, if possible, which could be seen from a ship several miles at sea;and the more I thought of this project the more strongly was I convincedthat it would be a wise thing to do; for, in the event of a ship'spassing on this side of the island, a prominent structure on themountain might attract attention and lead to my rescue. I thought it allover as I retraced my steps to the boulder, and resolved to look aboutfor a suitable place to make a substantial shelter while engaged in thework. I deemed it advisable to go further down the mountain where thevegetation was more plentiful, and where I might find fruits, andpossibly game--though game did not seem to be plentiful, but brilliantplumaged birds were numerous.

  In the edge of the bush between the table land and the mountain peak, Idiscovered a small grove of about a dozen orange trees, and here I atfirst thought that I would make my camp; but a little further to thesouth I saw a great rock, which appeared to over-hang several feet; andthe idea at once struck me that it might be wise to encamp beneath itsshelter.

  So, turning in that direction I was not long in reaching the rock. Itwas at the base of a spur of the mountain; and the top not only overhungthe base conside
rably, but, there was a sort of natural excavation whichformed quite a large cave, open on three sides, it was true; but here Isaw great possibilities in establishing my camp while erecting thebeacon. Besides, I fully expected the rainy season to set in almost anyday, and should I have to stay here for several months, the rock wouldafford me the best of shelter.

  So, having decided to make this the base of operations for the present,I took my bow-gun and set out to forage for supplies, of which I stoodin immediate need.

  I went down among the trees in the intervale between the two mountains.The vegetation was very luxuriant, but not so dense as in portions ofthe lowlands across which I had marched. I had noted that the cocoanutpalms were less plentiful here, and that there were several other kindsof palms that I had not seen before. One of these had a trunk coveredwith great sharp spines, and from the grapelike cluster of fruit at thetop I knew it must be an oil palm; but I saw only a few of these.Another had a bottle-shaped head of vivid green just below the leaves,which I at once recognized as the "mountain cabbage," or cabbage palm.These were very plentiful.

  Skirting the edge of the bush, a short distance to the north, I turnedto penetrate further toward the valley, when suddenly, as I took a stepforward, I felt myself sinking downward. I threw down my gun and triedto save myself by clutching the creepers; but I continued to sink into amass of vines. I was considerably frightened, and wondered, for a briefmoment, if I had fallen into the opening to a cavern; but suddenly myfeet touched solid earth, and I found myself standing beside whatappeared to be an old wall--about the height of my shoulder. Pushingaside the creepers I saw that it was really a wall, built of largestones and some kind of mortar. I was so astonished at the discoverythat I could scarcely collect my thoughts. Looking around, I was stillmore perplexed, for only a few feet away there was a rectangularenclosure which looked like the ruined foundations of a house. I foundthat the wall extended for perhaps fifty feet in each direction, theopposite side being flush with the rising ground above. An examinationof the rectangular enclosure showed unmistakably that it was a portionof the foundation of a house.

  What could this mean? It could mean but one thing; that people hadlived here. But when, I could form no opinion; but from the appearanceof the masonry it must have been many years before. The ruins, as wellas the wall, were thickly overgrown with creepers and other vegetation.

  Still further signs of the former presence of man now attracted myattention. A great plant, like an immense lily, with broad leaves sixor seven feet long was growing near by at the edge of the small cleararea surrounding the ruins; and, on going nearer to examine it I quicklyrecognized it from the great bunch of elongated fruit which hung fromthe crown of leaves.

  Banana trees!

  And there were many of them scattered around. Here was a never-endingsupply of food, of the most nourishing kind. I walked around to thesouth side of the clearing, where I found other trees, much resembling,in general appearance, the banana trees; but the fruit was much larger,and curved like a scimitar.

  My reading of books of tropical travel stood me in good stead as itaided me in recognizing trees and fruits that proved of great use to me.This latter, I knew to be the plantain. A still further search revealedyams, and several clusters of canes, much larger than the largestcornstalks that I had ever seen.

  Here was another valuable discovery--sugar cane! Taking out my knife Icut one of the canes, and was delighted to see that it was full oflimpid juice. I tasted it and found it very sweet and very refreshing.I sucked several joints of the sugar cane dry, and then turned to gathersome of the bananas. The bunches were rather small, but severalappeared to be quite ripe. I also dug some of the yams, and with asugar cane under one arm, my bow-gun under the other, the yams andbananas in my hands, I started back to the camp. I could not climb thewall, loaded as I was, so I set about to go around the end nearest to mycave-dwelling; when I saw a pigeon, like one I had shot near the coast,fly up and alight on the wall. As quickly as I could I laid down myload, and, adjusting an arrow in the bow-gun, took careful aim andreleased the string. Again my aim was true, for the arrow pierced theneck close to the body. It must have been killed almost instantly, forit quickly ceased fluttering.

  With this addition to my forage, I proceeded slowly to the camp. Withfood for two days at least, I now began to form plans for making the"cave," as I chose to call it, habitable. I proposed to close the twoends and a portion of the front, by setting bamboo, which I had seengrowing plentifully in the valley below, into the ground, and weaving invines. I only intended to make a temporary shelter against the wind,and had no idea of spending the time and labor that I had on my house onthe coast.

  It was slow work cutting the bamboos and dragging them up to the cave,and this occupied me several days. These had to be cut into the properlengths, and set into the ground, so that the upper ends would comefirmly up against the overhanging rock. As I worked, my plans for thefuture matured, so that I foresaw an extended sojourn here. Theultimate outcome was, that the inclosing walls of the cave were, whenfinished, fully as substantial as those of my house at "Sargent" Bay, asI had resolved to call the place where I had drifted ashore, in honor ofmy late benefactor. The paling of bamboos was closely interwoven withvines, and I constructed a door for the front. I now had not only acomfortable but a substantial dwelling, which would afford protectionfrom the wind and rain, no matter from which direction they came.

  About every other day I went to the old ruins to procure bananas andyams; and, on these trips, I shot several pigeons which proved to bevery delicate and tender. I often roasted yams, and found them to bevery hearty food; and became very fond of them.

  Frequently, of late, there had been showers of rain, which proved to methat the rainy season had set in. I made frequent trips to the top ofthe mountain, and, each time, I saw that the peculiar serrated lineagainst the sky, which I at first thought must be a cloud, had remainedstationary. This convinced me that it was land, and as it was evidentlythe top of a mountain range, it must be a great distance away.

  I speculated as to what land it would be. If my suppositions werecorrect as to the position of the island on which I was exiled, from thedirection it might be one of the Virgin Islands. If so, the LeewardIslands lay beyond, further to the east and south-east.

  My mind was now filled with the project of erecting a substantialbeacon, one which would be seen from some distance at sea. Gradually Ievolved plans for the structure. The first step was to cut the tallestand largest bamboo which I felt capable of dragging to the peak. Ifound one that suited me. It was a long tedious task to cut it downwith my knife, but it was finally accomplished, and I dragged it to thefront of the cave.

  It was my intention to devise a headpiece to fasten securely to the topof the bamboo in order to render it as conspicuous as possible. Thiswould have to be done before the bamboo was raised and set into theground.

  The daily showers became more frequent and more severe, and some daysthe rain would sweep across the mountain in perfect torrents.Nevertheless, I succeeded in cutting several more bamboos, of smallersize, and I also brought several bunches of bananas and plantains, and aquantity of yams up to the cave.

  I now set to work to complete the beacon. Cutting the bamboos to therequired lengths, I lashed them together in such a manner as to form asort of gridiron, eight feet long and six feet wide. This I filled inwith a basket-work of vines, woven very loosely that the wind mighteasily pass through it, to prevent its being blown down when raised tothe top of the pole.

  At length the beacon was finished, the gridiron being firmly lashed tothe upper end of the bamboo; and I had been on the mountain seven weeks.The rainy season was well under way; but I worked during the intervalswhen it ceased to rain, and, by means of a sharpened stick, aided by myknife, I dug a hole fully four feet deep, on the highest part of themountain. I found it difficult work to raise the bamboo with thegridiron at the top, and plant its base in the hole, but, af
ter manytrials, I succeeded, after which I wedged it firmly with stones andearth solidly packed.

  It would be useless to attempt to leave camp while the rain continued,and I had fully reconciled myself to remain until the close of the rainyseason; and I hoped that I could find enough to do to occupy the time.I was obliged to go frequently in quest of food, and I set aboutpreparing a brief account of the circumstances of my exile in theisland, the date of the wreck and the date of the raising of the beacon;also, explicit directions for finding "Sargent" Bay, where my housestood. This was carved in deep letters around the smooth surface of alarge section of bamboo, like a Chinese prayer cylinder. This wasfastened to the bamboo signal pole, a few feet from the ground, to guideanyone who might chance to notice the beacon and investigate itsmeaning, to my rescue.

  I made a coat and kilt reaching to the knees, from cocoanut cloth. Thecoat was without sleeves, but it would save my only shirt, and the kiltwould prove a great protection to my trousers, which were alreadyshowing signs of hard usage. These garments were sewn together withfibres of vines, a long, sharp thorn being used as a needle. I alsomade a new hat, of more skillful workmanship than the first, which I hadworn until the present time.

  Twice, each day, I went up to the beacon to scan the horizon. I saw novessels, but the distant, faint outline of mountains remained in sight.This position commanded a view of the entire island, and I studied itwith interest. It was nearly circular in shape, and I calculated thatit was not over forty miles in diameter. I had thought seriously ofdescending to the eastern slope of the mountains, and exploring thesmall portion which had not come, thus far, within my projected route.This belt of country, between the foot of the mountains and the sea,seemed, from my elevated position, to be very flat, and more sparselywooded than the other side of the mountain; but the question of itsbeing inhabited was settled by the torrents of rain, for, for miles tothe east and south-east the country was under water.

  The rain had apparently been the heaviest on the east side of theisland, for none of the west side was inundated, as far as I coulddiscern; but the stream, along whose banks I had marched from the coast,was swollen to the size of a great river.

  After I had made the clothing, I searched the edge of the bush until Ifound some wild canes, growing by a swampy place, from which I made asupply of arrows. Frequently I shot a pigeon, the birds apparentlybeing driven into the open by the rain. One day when I went to procurea fresh supply of bananas, as I extended one hand to cut off a bunch, Isprang back and quickly retired several rods. The cause of myprecipitate flight was nothing more nor less than a great yellow snake,exactly like my unwelcome companion on the coast. It was coiled amongthe leaf stems of the banana tree. I did not disturb it, not feelingparticularly curious as to its disposition under the presentcircumstances; and the next time I came it was gone. I named it the"banana snake," in commemoration of the latter incident, and because ofits color, which was nearly that of a ripe banana.

  The nights, at this elevation, and during the rain, were cold, but thecave was quite comfortable, and I built a small fire just inside thedoor each night, to drive out the dampness; having, from time to timebefore the rain became too constant, filled all the available space inthe cave with dry wood, only reserving enough room to lie down to sleep.

  The weeks passed, rather tediously after I could think of but little todo, but the rain was not so steady and, almost every day, there wereseveral hours when it entirely ceased to fall. There being only shortgrass around the top of the mountain, I utilized these intervals of thecessation of rain by exploring the mountain to the line of the bush, allaround. There was nothing but rocks, with occasionally a few smallshrubs. But one day I made an interesting discovery. Nearly down tothe line of the bush on the opposite side from my camp, I came across asimilar over-hanging rock; but on going under it, I perceived a largecrevice, which, on close examination, I found extended into the mountainfor some distance. I had my tinder and flint with me and, gathering afew dry leaves and sticks that lay around near the opening, I made afire at the entrance. By its light I could see that I had found theentrance to a cavern, but I could see only a few feet from the mouth.The walls were dark and the top of the cavern was not more than fourfeet from the floor. I determined to still further explore it with atorch.

  For a week I did not again go near the cavern, but made daily trips tothe beacon for the purpose of taking observations, but all the time Iwas trying to invent a torch. Nothing suitable for the purpose, whichwould burn for any length of time, suggested itself to me, until, onemorning, while at the ruins for yams and fruit, I saw some ripecocoanuts on the ground.

  "Why not use the oily kernel of the nut?"

  I at once proceeded to act upon this suggestion. Taking a couple of nutsto the camp, I split them in halves, fastening one into a split stick,making a sort of ladle. Hastening to the cavern on the other side ofthe mountain, I made a little fire at the end of the stick, and had thesatisfaction of soon seeing the oily meat of the nut blaze up in asteady, yellowish flame. Watching it for a moment, I saw that the meatcharred very slowly, while the oil was tried out by the heat to feed theflame.

  Taking the torch and the spare nuts with which to replenish the torch, Ientered the mouth of the cavern. I was both surprised and disappointed,for it was neither beautiful nor grand. The roof was low, and the wallswere dirty and grimy. The cavern was not more than six feet wide andfour feet high, and I was obliged to stoop as I moved along. The cavetook me straight into the mountain for a few rods, when I came to whatappeared at first to be the end; but I soon discovered a small opening alittle to my right, through which, after hesitating a little, I crawledon my hands and knees. I went but a few feet before I emerged into achamber of considerable size, where I could stand erect; and here I wasgreeted by a cloud of bats that flitted about as though bewildered bythe light, their wings making a curious, uncanny fluttering sound. Icould see the roof plainly, and clinging to it, with their headsdownward, were thousands of bats. There were, depending from theceiling, a few small stalactites, but they were dark and grimy. Iexamined the floor of the cavern, which revealed to me its true nature.I was in a guano cave, the floor of which was thickly covered with theguano of the bats, the accumulation of centuries, probably.

  "What a fortune there is here," I thought, "if all this guano could becheaply conveyed to the coast and loaded into vessels."

  Although the air in the cave seemed to be pure, it was not a pleasantplace, and most unattractive; so, after discovering a small passage,like the one I had just crawled through, leading further into themountain, I retreated toward the entrance and was soon in daylight,feeling no desire to further explore a cavern devoid of all the beautiesusually attributed to such natural phenomena.

  The days dragged now, as I waited for the weather to clear, with nothingto break the monotony but occasional trips to the ruins for yams,oranges, plantains, bananas and sugar cane; and sometimes I would stalkpigeons, when my bow-gun proved very effective, especially as I everyday became more skillful in using it, while the birds suffered inconsequence.

  Several times each day I went to the beacon to scan the horizon; but Isaw no sign of a vessel. I reasoned that my island must be out of theregular track of vessels going to the Windward or Leeward Islands, as Iknew it to be, of ships bound to the South American coast, CentralAmerica or any of the large West India Islands. But the far distantmountains still showed plainly against the horizon.

  While gazing away toward the east one day, the idea came to me to try toconstruct a boat, on my return to my house on the coast, in which toattempt to reach the distant land. I was not skilled in sailing a boat,but I reasoned that, with a fairly staunch and steady craft, providedwith some sort of a sail, I might, when a long period of fair weatherwas promised, escape to the land which I dimly saw to the eastward. Thisplan occupied my mind continually for days, and, so seriously did Ibegin to consider it, that I became extremely impatient to start awayfor the coast.<
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  Three weeks more of weary waiting, and the rain ceased to fall steadily,and then the sun began to break through the clouds at intervals, but theshowers were still frequent. From the beacon I could see that thefloods in the lowlands to the east were subsiding, and that the riveralong which I had traveled from the coast, was assuming its normalproportions.

  Gradually the clouds dispersed, and whole days of bright sunshinefollowed. The rainy season was drawing to a close. A few days of clearweather would dry the ground and the bush so I would be able to set outfor the coast.

  I felt a pang of regret at the thought of leaving my home under thecliff; but then, perhaps I might come back. I could not tell. PerhapsI should have to give up the idea of building the boat, and then itmight be years before I was rescued. I might, indeed, spend my entirelife here alone; but this thought I put away from me.

  My preparations for leaving the mountain were easily made. I left thehouse under the cliff exactly as it was, save the closing, securely, ofthe door; and one morning as the sun came up out of the sea, and thelovely island verdure lit up with a gorgeous blending of green, purpleand gold, I took a farewell look all around the horizon from the peak,and, with my gun, arrows and bag of provisions, dressed in the rudelymade cocoanut-cloth garments, I started down the mountain, taking, asnearly as I could, a northeast course toward the coast.

  The ground was yet sufficiently damp to render it pleasantly springy andcool to my feet, and the freshness of the verdure of the forest and bushwhich I traversed imparted to the air a pleasant coolness, even thoughthe sun shone fierce and hot. Birds were flitting like iridescent gemsthrough the trees, and tittering curious discordant cries. Not sincethe beginning of my exile had I been conscious of such cheerfulness andlight-heartedness as on this morning--and, with all, I had the feelingof going home, as, indeed, I was.

  Crossing the valley at the foot of the first mountain peak, I ascendedthe lower spur and descended its side toward the level country which laybetween it and the coast. In general appearance, the bush here did notmaterially differ from that to the southwest, traversed during my marchfrom the coast months before.

  Shortly after entering the belt of virgin forest which skirted the baseof the mountain range, I emerged into an opening, perhaps two acres inextent. It was covered with thick grass, green and luxuriant after therains. The grass was not tall, perhaps two feet high, apparently a newgrowth, and I started to cross it. A tall cactus, a veritable tree,stood alone near the centre of the grassland, and toward this I took myway, thinking that I would like to examine it closely, as it was thelargest one I had seen on the island.

  After examining this giant of the tropics, I continued my way across theintervening space toward the bush on the other side. I was nearly outof the grass, when a strange sound caused me to stand still and lookabout me.

  The sound came in a series of short, angry grunts, like "woof! woof!"and, a short distance to the left I saw the grass violently agitated,while the noise came nearer to me.

  I at once decided that some animal was coming toward me, whether toattack me or not, I could not tell. But I quickly decided that the mostsensible thing for me to do would be to seek safety. Naturally Ithought of the bush, and ran toward it. The moment I started to run the"woof, woof!" followed me, and I increased my speed as fast as I could,hampered as I was by the thick grass. The terrible, guttural soundgained upon me as I plunged on, but at last I reached the bush, and,seeing a large tree with branches near the ground, just ahead of me, Idropped my gun and bag of provisions, and grasped the lower limb.Quickly I climbed up to what I considered to be a safe distance, andthen looked down to see what sort of a beast my pursuer would prove tobe.

  I had but a second or two to wait, for soon, not one but three shot outof the grass and rushed to the foot of the tree. I could not mistakethem. They were pigs, wild pigs.

  They looked up at me with little, cruel looking eyes, and one, thelargest, which had probably led the chase, snapped his jaws, showinglong, white tusks, ran around the tree and continued the "woof, woof!"throwing up his head and, as he apparently grew more angry because I wasabove his reach, flecks of foam were flung from the ugly jaws. This onewas, without a doubt, the boar. The other two were smaller, and seemedto be taking matters more coolly.

  They were villainous-looking beasts, gaunt, with long legs and sharp,pointed heads; and their color was a sort of rusty-red. Feelingperfectly safe, the question which naturally first occurred to me was,"how long shall I be besieged in this position?" There seemed to be butone course to follow, at present, and that to await developments. Thepigs had not appeared to notice my paraphernalia.

  After a while the boar grew calmer, and finally all three lay down nearthe foot of the tree. I made myself as comfortable as possible, andlooked down at them.

  The day dragged along monotonously, while I was able to change myposition so frequently that I was not cramped; but I began to get veryhungry, having eaten nothing since early in the morning. The pigscontinued to remain on guard, the boar now and then getting up andregarding me contemplatively, until the sun sank behind the forest.Then the pigs moved away into the grass. It was soon dark, and themoon, which was near its full, came up over the mountains; but I was notlong able to distinguish the movements of the pigs in the uncertainmoonlight.

  Patiently I waited, until the moon was directly over the clearing.There was no sound of the pigs, and, after a little, I slid to theground and, cautiously gathering up my gun and provision bag, movednoiselessly away into the bush. The moonlight favored me, and I hurriedon for several miles, when I was brought to a halt by a small stream.Feeling safe from the pigs, I decided to camp here until daylight. I didnot dare make a fire, so, after satisfying hunger with a portion of apigeon which I had roasted before setting out, and an orange, I sat downby a large tree and, leaning against the trunk, was soon asleep.