While They Were Examining The Plunder, He Begged Them, With Great Earnestness, To Return His Pocket-Compass; But When He

Pointed it out to them, as it lay on the ground, one of the banditti, thinking he meant to take

It up, cocked his musket, and swore he would lay him dead on the spot, if he presumed to lay his hand upon it. After this, some went away with his horse, and the remainder, after some deliberation, returned him the worst of the two shirts and a pair of trousers; and on going away, one of them threw back his hat, in the crown of which he kept his memorandums. After they were gone, Mr. Park sat for some time, looking around him with amazement and terror. "Whatever way I turned," says he, "nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest European settlement. All these circumstances crowded at once to my recollection, and I confess that my spirits began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, however, aided and supported me. I reflected that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Providence, who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend.

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