He Has Thus The Advantage Over The European In The Desert, That A Swimmer Has In The Water Over The Man Who Cannot Swim; Conscious Of His Own Powers And Resources, He Feels Not The Least Apprehension, Whilst The Very Terrors Of The Other But Augment His Danger.

On the other hand, the general habits, mode of life, and almost temperament of the savage, give him an

Equally great advantage. Indolent by disposition and indulgence, he makes very short stages in his ordinary travels, rarely moving more than from eight to twelve miles in the day, and this he does so leisurely and quietly, that he neither becomes excited nor heated, and consequently does not experience that excessive thirst, which is produced by the active exertions or violent exercise of the European, and which in the latter is at the same time so greatly augmented, by his want of confidence and anxiety.

[Note 67: Vide vol. I. p.349 (March 26.)]

Another very great advantage on the part of the natives is, the intimate knowledge they have of every nook and corner of the country they inhabit; does a shower of rain fall, they know the very rock where a little water is most likely to be collected, the very hole where it is the longest retained, and by repairing straight to the place they fill their skins, and thus obtain a supply that lasts them many days. Are there heavy dews at night, they know where the longest grass grows, from which they may collect the spangles, and water is sometimes procured thus in very great abundance.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 663 of 914
Words from 184949 to 185216 of 254601