It Had
Either Been Bitten By A Snake; Or Had Eaten Some Noxious Herb, Which Had
Fortunately Been Avoided By The Other Horses.
Accidents of this kind were
well calculated to impress us with the conviction of our dependence on
Providence, which had hitherto been so kind and merciful.
As all our meat was consumed, I was compelled to stop, in order to kill
one of our little steers. It proved to be very fat, and allowed us once
more to indulge in our favourite dish of fried liver. Although we were
most willing to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, and
to revive our own ambitious feelings at the memory of the deeds of our
illustrious heroes, we had nothing left but the saturated rags of our
sugar bags; which, however, we had kept for the purpose, and which we now
boiled up with our tea: our last flour was consumed three weeks ago; and
the enjoyment of fat cake, therefore, was not to be thought of. Should
any of my readers think these ideas and likings ridiculous and foolish,
they may find plenty of analogous facts by entering the habitations of
the poor, where I have not only witnessed, but enjoyed, similar treats of
sugared tea and buttered bread.
In crossing one of the creeks we found a species of Acacia [Inga
moniliformis, D. C. Prod. Vol. II. p. 440, where it is described
as having been found at Timor.], with articulate pods and large brown
seeds; it was a small tree with spreading branches, and a dark green shady
foliage:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 286 of 524
Words from 76953 to 77217
of 141354