Our journey was irksome and disagreeable in the extreme. We marched on
each day as long as the horses and men could move; and we rested at
night, sometimes in farm-houses, or in the public _tambos_; but
frequently we took shelter within the ruins of forts or other buildings,
and often we were obliged to sleep on the hard ground, with our saddles
for our pillows and the starlit sky above our heads. As it was the
height of summer, this mattered little. We suffered, however, much from
the heat in the day-time, and we were compelled frequently to dismount
to lead our horses over the rugged places we had to pass. Day after day
the poor captives dropped through fatigue, till their numbers were much
thinned; but still we pushed on. We passed through a number of Indian
villages, the inhabitants of which looked out from their mat doors with
sad eyes on their unhappy countrymen; and we now discovered that the
object of the Spaniards in carrying them on was to strike terror into
the hearts of the people. When governors cannot manage a people so as
to gain their love, they attempt to rule them through their fears; but
such a government is never of long duration, and must ultimately bring
destruction on itself. We had marched for three days without finding
any habitations, when I saw the officers holding consultation together,
and evidently much perplexed. A halt was ordered, and inquiries made if
anybody knew the road. We had lost our way. The Indians had no
knowledge of that part of the country, nor had any of the soldiers. I
detected a gleam of intelligence in the countenance of Ithulpo, which
made me suspect that he could give the desired information if he chose;
but when asked, he denied all knowledge of the way. We took shelter
that night within the walls of a ruined village, which, from its
appearance, I judged had not been inhabited since the time of the
conquest, except as a temporary abode in the same manner as we used it.
It must have been a place of some extent, but the greater part was
concealed by trees and shrubs, and creeping plants, which had grown up
among the walls. Most of the buildings were of sun-dried bricks; but
others, within one of which we were placed, were of masses of stone,
like the fortress of Cuzco. It had probably been the residence of a
chief or noble. It seemed strange that the Spaniards should not have
known so remarkable a spot; but though they did not, I was certain that
the Indians were well acquainted with it.
The prisoners were all driven together like a flock of sheep within one
of the enclosures, and a sentry was placed over them, with orders to
shoot any who might attempt to escape. After the horses had been
picketed in a grassy spot close to the ruins, the soldiers lighted their
fires to dress their evening meal, while the two officers sat themselves
down on a fragment of stone and smoked their cigars, taking no notice of
us. Our horses and luggage mule had been placed with the others under a
guard; so they thought, I suppose, that we should not attempt to escape.
Meantime my father and I sat at a little distance, watching the
proceedings of our very unwelcome companions, while Ithulpo stood near,
casting every now and then towards them glances expressive of the most
intense hatred, and a desire of vengeance. The sun was still low, but
his rays yet tinged the topmost branches of the trees and the lofty
ranges of mountains in the distance. The soldiers had brought skins of
wine and plenty of good cheer with them; and when they had eaten, they
passed the wine-skins round right merrily, the officers joining in the
carouse. Instead of pouring the wine into cups, they lifted the skins
high above their heads, and without touching the vessel to their lips,
allowed the wine to run down their throat in a gentle stream. As we
were close enough to them to be easily watched, the officers, I suppose,
thought that we should not attempt to move away. Ithulpo had stowed a
sort of knapsack he carried with some dried meat and bread, which he now
produced, and it served to satisfy our appetites; but we had no wine,
and our surly guards did not deign to offer us any.
"Do not repine, sirs, at the want," he observed. "I will show you a
pure stream, the water of which, ere to-morrow's sun has set, those
soldiers will value more than the finest wine their country can
produce."
The sun went down, and the shades of night came rapidly on, but still
the Spaniards continued their debauch. They had apparently forgotten us
and their other prisoners; for though by the light of their fires we
could clearly see them, sitting as we were under the shadow of a wall,
we were no longer visible to them. Ithulpo came and sat himself down
beside me.
"Could we not manage to get away from these people?" I asked in a
whisper.
"Not now," he answered. "The sentries would give the alarm if we
attempted to take the horses, and without them we cannot move.
To-morrow we shall have a better opportunity, and we may help some of my
poor countrymen to escape at the same time."
"Why do you expect that a good opportunity to escape will occur?" I
inquired.
"I cannot at present reply to your question," he said. "Those who now
guard us will no longer be able to do so. Trust to me. You will enter
Lima as free men, and no one will appear as a witness against you, to
support the false accusation these people have made."
I forbore to question him further, but there was something very
mysterious in his look and manner; and at first the horrid idea occurred
to me that he had by some means contrived to poison the Spaniards, for
otherwise I could not account for the confidence with which he
pronounced his prediction. However, I endeavoured to banish the
suspicion as too dreadful to be entertained. At length the commanding
officer seemed to recollect that he had duties to attend to. Fresh
guards were set over the prisoners and the horses, wood was collected
and the fires were made up, and a sentinel was posted near the spot,
under shelter of a wall, which we had selected for our place of rest.
Ithulpo got leave to bring us our saddles and horse-trappings to serve
us for beds, and he likewise brought us our portmanteaus and
saddle-bags, which he placed near us. The soldiers threw themselves on
the ground, and were very soon fast asleep. Our sentry also, from the
manner his head every now and then gave a sharp nod, was evidently very
drowsy. The heat of the weather, the exertion he had undergone, and the
wine he had drunk, were quite enough to account for this. I also at
last fell asleep. My eyes had been closed for about a couple of hours,
when I was awakened by Ithulpo touching my shoulder. I sat up, and
observed that he had the wine-skins emptied by the soldiers hanging on
his arm.
"Follow me," he whispered. "We are not going to escape; but you are
thirsty, and I will show you a pure spring, where you may drink your
fill, and you will be better able to endure the heat of to-morrow's
sun."
Silently following him, as he led the way among the ruins, I found that
we had reached a thick and apparently impenetrable wood. Without
stopping, however, he went direct to a spot where the branches yielded
easily to his hand. A winding path appeared before us, proceeding along
which, we arrived in an open forest glade. On one side rose a high
rock, which seemed part of a range of cliffs forming the side of a
mountain. The murmuring sound of water met my ear, and by the faint
starlight I discovered a stream gushing forth from the rock, and finding
its way in a narrow rivulet through the glade.
"The white man thinks that the discovery of a gold mine will bring him
all the wealth he can desire; but the time has come when he would gladly
exchange all the gold and silver hidden within yon mountains for one
draught of that pure stream," muttered Ithulpo, as I stooped my head to
drink at the fountain. "Drink--drink while you can," he continued in
the same low tone. "It is more than wealth, it is life itself; it
fertilises, it invigorates, it cleanses, it blesses. Without it the
world would be but a sterile desert, unfit for the habitation of man;
while gold, which the white men value so much, has ever proved the curse
of our country. They value it because they think it scarce, while we,
who know the deep mines where in vast heaps it lies hid from their
sight, place it at its true worth, below iron and copper, or even silver
or tin."
While Ithulpo was thus speaking, he was employed in washing out and
filling the skins he had brought with water. I also filled a couple of
flasks with the pure fluid. We then retraced our steps by the way we
had come, I assisting him in carrying the somewhat heavy burden. We
reached the camp unobserved by the drowsy sentries. I was wondering
what the Indian intended doing with the skins, when, begging me to lie
down and rest, he took up two of the skins, and crept cautiously away
towards the enclosure where his countrymen were confined. After a
little time he returned, and again took the path to the fountain to
replenish the skins. I was afraid he would have been discovered, but he
went about the work so cautiously and silently, that he altogether
escaped the observation of the sentries. After he had given the
prisoners all the water they required, he came back to where we were
lying, and threw himself on the ground near us. The rest of the night
passed quietly away; and notwithstanding the painful position in which
we were placed, I slept soundly. I was aroused by the sound of a bugle,
and found the soldiers getting under arms and preparing to march. Our
baggage was replaced by Ithulpo, who I saw watched it carefully. The
men mounted, the prisoners were dragged out from their resting-place,
and we commenced our day's journey.
An extensive plain was before us, with a few rugged and barren heights
scattered over it. As we proceeded vegetation grew more and more
scanty, till after we had marched scarcely half a mile, it ceased
altogether. We had slept, we found, on the borders of a desert. The
ground was at first composed of a mixture of rock and clay, over which
the sea had evidently rolled in former ages; but as we proceeded it
became more loose and broken, till it changed into a soft shifting sand,
into which our horses' feet sank deep at every step they made.
The poor prisoners, already worn out with their long journey, appeared
scarcely able to drag on their weary limbs through it. Of its extent we
were unable to judge, but the commander seemed to fancy that in a short
time we should reach firmer and more fertile ground, where we should
find water and halt to breakfast. The sun, which rose in a cloudless
sky on our right, showed that we were proceeding in the direction we
wished to follow--towards the north.
"Forward, my men," shouted the officer. "In an hour or two we shall be
out of this ill-conditioned spot, and find rest and refreshment."
The soldiers lighted their cigars and urged on their horses, while they
dealt their blows freely on the backs of the Indians to quicken their
speed.
I observed a peculiar smile on the countenance of Ithulpo, as the
officer spoke of soon reaching a place of rest. Our attendant had, I
found, managed to distribute a supply of the highly prized cacao among
his countrymen; and while their features wore a look of sullen
indifference as they received the ill-merited blows, I remarked that
they seemed to bear up against the fatigue better than they had before
done. As the sun rose higher the heat increased, till it became almost
insupportable. The officers spoke earnestly together for some time, and
were evidently growing anxious as to the road we were taking. At length
their voices grew louder and louder, as if disputing on the point, for
there was very little semblance of discipline among them. Then they
called up several of their men one after the other, but could not gain
the information they required. Some of the prisoners were next brought
up, but they either could not or would not say whether we were pursuing
the proper course, their countenances assuming an expression of the most
perfect ignorance and apathy. Still we pushed on, the Spaniards trying
to urge their horses still faster through the heavy sand. Before us
rose a bright glittering haze, through which objects every now and then
appeared seemingly in the far distance--hills, and trees, and rocks, and
lakes, and streams of pure water; but as we advanced they vanished, and
a few barren mounds and loose stones alone were found, while the
supposed water was altogether a mocking deception. To the right hand
and to the left, the same inhospitable desert seemed to stretch out far
away; and we had already advanced so deeply into it, that the officers
probably supposed that there would be as much risk in returning as in
going on. On therefore we went, the soldiers having no mercy on the
prisoners, whom they urged forward, whenever they attempted to slacken
their pace, with the points of their swords, till the blood trickled in
streams down the backs of these miserable beings. We were riding just
behind the main body of the soldiers, followed by Ithulpo and the
baggage mules. The generous, kind heart of my father was almost
bursting with indignation, as he saw this piece of cruelty.
At last, as an Indian more weary than the rest sunk to the ground, and a
soldier was about to plunge his sword into his body, he could restrain
himself no longer.
"Hold, wretch!" he exclaimed. "Add not murder to your cruelty."
The soldier, taken by surprise, did not strike the fatal blow till his
horse had carried him past the fainting Indian; but, balked of his prey,
his anger was kindled against my father, and turning round, he made a
cut at him with his sword. Fortunately I carried a heavy riding-whip,
with which I was able to parry the blow. The man did not attempt to
repeat it, for the junior officer turning round, observed the act, and
called him to order; but it showed us what we were to expect if we
excited the anger of our captors. I could not withstand the despairing
look the poor wretch cast on us as he thought we were about to pass him
and to leave him to his fate; so throwing myself from my horse, I lifted
his head from the ground. My father stopped also, and so did Ithulpo.
"On, on!" shouted the rear-guard of the Spaniards. "On, or we will fire
at you."
"We will follow immediately," replied my father. "On my word of
honour--on the word of an Englishman."
The Spaniards had never known that word broken, so they allowed us to
stop to help the Indian. One of our baggage mules was lightly laden,
and in spite of the threats of the soldiers we lifted him upon it. I
had, as I mentioned, filled a small spirit-flask with water, and unseen
I poured a few drops down his parched throat. This much revived him,
and by urging on our animals, we were soon able to overtake the already
weary horses of the Spaniards.
The time for breakfast had long since passed, but still no signs of a
resting-place appeared. On the contrary, the sand became finer and
deeper, and the dreary expanse before us seemed to lengthen out to the
horizon. As the sun also rose higher in the sky, his unobstructed rays
darted down with greater force upon our heads. There had been a slight
breeze in the morning, blowing fresh from over the snowy summits of the
Cordilleras; but that had now died entirely away, and not a breath of
air stirred the stagnant atmosphere. The heat at length became almost
insupportable, while our eyes could scarcely bear the glare of the sun
on the white glittering sand.
To do the Spaniards credit, they bore up bravely for a long time against
the heat and thirst and fatigue which assailed them. The horses,
however, which had only been scantily supplied with water the night
before, began to knock up--their ears dropped, their heads hung down,
and their respiration became thick and fast. Ithulpo had supplied my
father and me with cacao, by chewing a piece of which occasionally, we
avoided any feeling of hunger; and as we also wetted our lips, when they
became parched, with the water from our flasks, we did not suffer much
from thirst. Still the sensation of oppression and fatigue was very
painful. We received too, ere long, a warning of what might be our
fate, in the spectacle which met our sight. The sun had reached his
meridian height, and was descending towards the waters of the Pacific,
and still it appeared that we had made no more progress than in the
morning, when we came upon the bleached bones of several mules and
horses, and by their side appeared, just rising above the sand, the
skeletons of three human beings. It appeared as if they had all been
struck down together by the same fiery blast. The soldiers, as we
passed, turned their looks aside, without uttering a word, each one
feeling that he might shortly become like those ghastly remnants of
mortality. I observed that the heads of the animals were all turned
towards the south, by which I judged that thus they had probably
travelled over a greater distance of the burning desert than we had yet
passed, so that we were yet not half over our difficulties.
"Those skeletons show that we are on the high road across the desert," I
remarked to my father.
"I am afraid not, David," he answered. "They may have lost their way,
and we have stumbled on them by chance."
Such, I at once saw, was too likely to be the case.
The gauze-like mist of which I had before spoken, now appeared to grow
more dense, and to lose its transparent appearance; at the same time
that the rays of the sun struck down with fiercer heat, and the
atmosphere grew more stagnant and oppressive. Some of the soldiers had
lighted their cigars, in the hope that the fumes of tobacco would
alleviate their thirst; and as the tiny jets of smoke left their mouths,
they went straight up towards the sky, not a breath existing to blow
them aside. Suddenly, as I turned my head to the left, I saw what
appeared to be a dark cloud rising from the earth. I pointed it out to
my father. Ithulpo had at the same time observed it.
"Muffle up your heads in your ponchos, and push on for the love of
life," he exclaimed. "It is the sand-drift swept before a whirlwind.
On! on! or it will overwhelm us!"
It was indeed an object to appal the stoutest heart. On it came, like a
black wall, rising higher and higher, and curling over our heads, till
the sky and the sun himself were obscured. The soldiers saw it and
trembled, for they knew its deadly power; whole regiments had before
been buried beneath that heavy canopy. Their only chance of safety,
they fancied, was to gallop through it. With frantic energy they dug
their spurs into the sides of their panting steeds. They no longer
thought of their miserable prisoners. Without a sensation of
commiseration, they left them to the dreadful fate they themselves
strove to escape. Neither could we do anything for them: if we stopped,
we also should lose our lives. As we followed the soldiers, we found
the Indians all huddled together, with looks of despair on their
countenances, watching the approach of the sand-drift. They had no
prospect of extricating themselves either; for the Spaniards had not
even cut the cords which bound them all together. I glanced at the
black wall of sand; it was still some way off. Could I leave my
fellow-creatures thus to perish horribly, without an attempt to save
them? No burning thirst, thanks to Ithulpo's precautions, had yet dried
up the sympathies of my heart.
"What are you going to do, David?" asked my father, as he saw me throw
myself from my horse.
"To give these poor fellows a chance of life," I answered, drawing out
my knife, and cutting away at their cords.
"Your mother and sisters, my lad, must not be forgotten," he muttered;
"but stay, I will help you."
As he said this he set to work to release the Indians, in which we were
directly joined by Ithulpo; the rear-guard, as they passed by, bestowing
many curses and threats of vengeance on our heads for our interference;
but they were too anxious to save their own lives to prevent us.
Scarcely a minute was lost.
"Mount! mount! and ride on!" cried Ithulpo.
Throwing our knives to the Indians, we leaped on our horses, and again
followed the direction we supposed the soldiers had taken. We had not
proceeded many yards when the wall of sand seemed to wheel round like an
extended line of infantry, and then to advance at double speed. To
escape it by galloping from it was now hopeless; so we turned our
horses' heads to face it. As we did so, a clear break appeared in one
part.
"Let us make for yonder lighter spot," shouted my father.
We did so. On came the dark wall; the sand swept by us, whirling round
and round our heads, blinding our eyes, and filling our ears and
nostrils. It was with difficulty even that we could breathe, as with
each respiration our mouths became choked with the sand. I endeavoured,
as well as I was able, to keep close to my father, though for a time it
was only by our voices, as we shouted to each other, that we were aware
of each other's position. We did our utmost to keep our horses' heads
in the direction the sand-storm came from, that we might the more
speedily pass through it. They breasted it bravely, though their
thick-drawn breath showed the pain they suffered; but they seemed to be
as well aware as ourselves of the necessity of exertion. It was with
difficulty, however, that we could even keep our seats, as, with our
hats pressed over our eyes, our ponchos drawn tight around us, and our
bodies bent down over their necks, we encouraged them to proceed with
bit and rein. We were making all the time, in reality, but little real
progress, as I soon discovered; their utmost exertion being required to
lift their legs out of the sand, which was rapidly collecting round us.
On a sudden, a dark mass swept towards us. I know not how it was,--I
believe I must have turned to my right,--I kept calling to my father as
before; but oh, what horror--what agony seized my soul when he did not
answer! and as I endeavoured to pierce the thick mass of sand which
surrounded me, I could nowhere see him. I could not tell which way to
turn. I felt lost and bewildered, and I believed that my last moment
had arrived--a dreadful death was to be my lot. I did not regard
myself; it was for my noble father I felt. "O that I could have died
with him!" I thought. My brave horse, however, still exerted himself
to save his own life and mine, when I had ceased to care what became of
me, by continuing to lift his feet above the overwhelming sand-drifts.
My only wish was to find my father; but so completely was I bewildered
that I knew not whether to turn to the right hand or to the left. His
horse might have sunk down, I thought, and then in a few moments he
would for ever have been covered up from mortal sight; or, overcome with
fatigue and the suffocating atmosphere, he might have fallen, and been
unable to regain his steed. Or happily he might have passed through the
sand-drift in safety, and have been all the time suffering with anxiety
for my sake. But this hope was very transient; the predominant feeling
was that my father was lost, and that I was about to share his fate. I
was thus giving way to despair, when I was aware of a considerable
decrease in the density of the sand-laden atmosphere; the last breath of
the fierce whirlwind passed by; the sun shone forth bright and clear,
and I stood alone amid a sea of glittering sand. Oh, with what an
aching anxious heart I looked around, to see if the one object I sought
was visible on that dreary white expanse! Before me, there was nothing;
a few mounds and rocks alone were to be seen between me and the horizon;
but as I turned round just as the column of sand swept on, not thirty
paces behind me, with joy such as I cannot describe, I saw my father
stooping down and endeavouring to extricate his horse from the sand,
which had partially covered him. I hurried towards him, and leaping to
the ground, threw myself into his arms. For the moment all sensations
of fatigue or thirst were forgotten in the joy of recovering him.
Knowing that my horse was strong, he had felt less anxiety on my account
than I had on his. With some exertion we cleared away the sand, and
once more got his horse upon his feet, though the poor animal appeared
scarcely able to move, much less to bear a man of my father's weight.
We had still one flask of water untouched. We drank a little, and with
a portion of the remainder washed the mouths and nostrils of our horses,
and poured a few drops down their throats, still keeping a little for
any further emergency. This very much revived them; and once more
mounting, we endeavoured to find our way across the desert.
Since the sand-drift first overtook us, scarcely as much time had
elapsed as it has occupied to read the account I have given; but so
dreadful were the sensations I experienced, and so intense my anxiety,
that to me it appeared an age. The heat soon became almost as great as
before the storm, and the atmosphere as oppressive, warning us that,
though thus far preserved, we were still placed in a position of great
peril. It was now that I felt the benefit of the firm reliance in the
goodness of Providence, which my father had ever inculcated, and which
at this juncture supported him.
"Courage, my dear boy," he exclaimed. "God has thus far preserved us.
He will still find the means of rescuing us."
As he spoke, the dark wall of sand, which had been receding from us,
after whirling in various directions, seemed to settle down in a line of
undulating mounds in the distance; and on every side the horizon once
more became entirely clear.
We naturally first tried to discover any traces of the Spanish cavalry;
and after straining my eyes for some time, I perceived a few dark
objects which seemed to be moving on towards the point which, from the
position of the sun, we judged to be the north. Some other objects
beyond them afforded us a fair hope of being able to find our way out of
this dreadful desert. I could not doubt that what I saw were the tops
of some tall trees, though at such a distance that their base was not
visible; indeed my father, who agreed with me that they were trees, was
of opinion that they grew on ground somewhat elevated above the sandy
plain.
Towards them, therefore, we steered our course, as the Spaniards were
also probably doing. Our horses, we fancied, must have seen them
likewise, or their instinct told them that water was to be found in the
neighbourhood. We looked round in vain for Ithulpo and the Indians.
Not a sign of them could we perceive, and it would have been madness to
have attempted to search for them. Indeed, had we found them, we could
have rendered them no assistance. I was in hopes, indeed, that Ithulpo,
whose horse was strong, and who I suspected knew the country better than
he pretended to the Spaniards, would have found some means of escaping,
and of aiding his countrymen. We had, in truth, still too much to do in
attempting to preserve our own lives, to allow us to think much of
others. It would be assuming to be above humanity, did I not confess
this.
The sun was already sinking low; and should we be unable to reach the
trees before dark, and be compelled to rest on the plain or wander about
it all night, we could scarcely hope to survive. The ground we passed
over was as smooth as if the receding tide had just left it. Not the
sign of a footstep of man or beast was to be seen, though here and there
a slight rise showed that some harder substance had offered an
impediment to the drifting sand. After toiling onwards for half an hour
at a very slow pace, we came upon a horse's head just rising from the
sand. He had died probably in attempting to extricate himself. Several
heaps showed that others--human beings, too probably--also lay beneath.
They, at all events, were beyond all help. The horse I recognised, from
the head-trappings, as belonging to the officer commanding the party.
We were passing on, when we observed, a little on the right, a man
extended on his back. A movement of his arm showed me that he was not
dead, and that probably he was endeavouring to call our attention to
himself.
"Though he is one of those who showed no pity to the poor Indians, we
must try what we can do for him," said my father; and we turned our
horses towards him.
As he saw us approach, he mustered all his strength and tried to rise.
"Water, water!" he muttered. "In mercy give me a drop of water!"
It was the cruel officer himself. Still he was a fellow-creature. We
had a small portion of water in the flask. We might want it ourselves,
but still we could not leave him thus to die. So I dismounted, and
approached him with the flask, while my father held my horse, who showed
signs of an eagerness to rush on to the oasis we had discovered. The
officer, when he saw the flask, would have seized it, and drained off
the whole of its contents; but I held it back, and pouring out a few
drops in the cover, let them trickle down his throat. I thought of what
Ithulpo had said of water being of more value often than gold. Truly
those drops were more precious to the dying man; they had the effect of
instantly reviving him. Brightness came back to his glazed eyes, his
voice returned, and he was able to sit up, and even to make an attempt
to rise on his feet; but to do so was more than his strength would
allow.
"Give me more water or I shall die," he said as he saw me replacing the
flask in my pocket. "My rascally troopers have deserted me, to try and
save their own worthless lives, and I have only you foreigners to depend
on."
"I cannot give you more water," I answered. "I have but a few drops
left to moisten my father's and my own lips."
"O leave them for me. I will give you your liberty, I will give you all
I possess in the world, for that small flask of water," he exclaimed.
"You will not require it, for beneath yonder trees, in the distance, you
will find a fountain where you may drink your fill. Have mercy,
stranger, have mercy!"
It was difficult to withstand the poor wretch's earnest appeal. I
poured out a little more water, which he drank off at once. I then gave
him a small lump of cocoa; and scraping up a heap of sand, I placed him
leaning against it, so that he might feel any breath of air which might
blow; promising faithfully to return to bring him to the oasis, if we
were fortunate enough to reach it in safety.
"But the voracious condors and the lions will come and destroy me, if I
remain here during the night alone," he shrieked out. "O take me with
you, generous Englishman, take me with you!"
To do this was utterly impossible. My horse could scarcely carry me,
much less another person in addition.
"Come, David," said my father; "you have done your utmost for this
miserable man. We risk our own lives by further delay."
In spite, therefore, of the entreaties of the Spaniard, I again mounted
my horse. It just then occurred to me that if he had his pistols, he
might defend himself against any wild beasts. On my offering to load
them for him, he told me that he had thrown them away. So I gave him
one of my own, with a little ammunition, that he might reload it, if
required. He seized the weapon eagerly as I presented it.
"Then you will not stay to help me, or carry me with you!" he exclaimed
fiercely as I rode off. "You will not!--then take that;" and levelling
at me the pistol which I had just given, he fired. The ball just grazed
my side, but did no further mischief.
"The poor wretch is delirious with fear," observed my father, when he
found that I was uninjured. "Let us ride on."
On we rode, but though we made some progress, the oasis was still in
appearance as far off as when first seen. The sun was sinking rapidly--
it reached the horizon--it disappeared; the short twilight changed into
the obscurity of night; and the beacon by which we had hitherto directed
our course was no longer to be seen. The stars, however, shone brightly
forth; and I had marked one which appeared just above the clump of
trees. By that we now steered, though, I had too soon strong proof, the
instinct of our horses would have led them towards the oasis without our
guidance. Although it was night, the heat was intense; our throats were
dry, our lips were parched, and we were experiencing all the terrible
sensations of intolerable thirst. We had kept the remnant of the water
for a last resource, in case we should not reach the fountain.
I think that for nearly another hour we had ridden on, my father not
having spoken a word all that time, when to my horror, without any
warning, he fell heavily from his horse. His hands had let go the
reins, and the animal, relieved of his burden, set off towards the
oasis. I threw myself from my horse. To lift him up and to pour some
water down his throat was the work of a moment. It instantly restored
him to consciousness. He appeared to have suffered no injury from his
fall. While I was thus engaged, my horse escaped from me and set off
after his companion. So engrossed, however, was I in tending my father,
that I scarcely noticed the occurrence. It was, of course, utterly
hopeless to attempt to recover the animals, and thus were we two left in
the middle of the desert without a prospect of escaping.
O the horrors of that night! They can never be obliterated from my
memory. At first I thought of attempting to reach the oasis by walking;
but my father, though having sufficient strength to sit up, and, had he
not lost his horse, to ride, felt himself utterly unable to accomplish
the distance on foot. I had bitterly, indeed, to regret my momentary
carelessness in allowing my horse to escape from me. It might have been
the cause of my father's and my destruction. I have often since
thought, from being for one instant only off our guard, how much misery
and ruin may occur--how much wickedness and suffering may be the result!
The air was still very sultry, and even the sand, on which we rested,
was very hot. Our last drop of water was consumed. My father did not
know it, but I had given it to him. I had begun to suffer dreadfully
from thirst. My throat seemed lined with a coating like the face of a
file, and my lips were hard and cracked; while the skin, from the drying
effects of the sun, the wind, and the sand, was peeling off my face. My
father did not feel so much pain as I did; but my strength, I fancied,
had in no way failed me, and I thought that, if I had kept my horse, I
could easily have walked by his side till we reached the fountain we
expected to find. We sat for some time without speaking. The stars
were shining in undimmed brilliancy above our heads from the dark blue
sky; not a breath of air was stirring, not a sound was heard. I never
endured a silence so profound, so solemn, and so painful. For a time I
almost fancied that I had become deaf. At length my father's voice,
which sounded deep and hollow, convinced me of the contrary.
"David," he said, "I must not let you, my boy, remain here to die. You
may still be able during the night to reach the oasis, and the cool of
the morning will bring you renewed strength. If you reach it in safety,
you are certain to find our horses there, and you can return with them
and the flasks full of water to me. I feel quite certain that I can
hold out till then."
I scarcely knew what to answer my father. Though I thought that I might
possibly reach the oasis, I saw the great difficulty there would be in
again finding him, without any means in that vast plain of marking his
position; and I felt far from confident that his strength would endure
till my return.
"No, father," I answered; "I cannot leave you now. I should not find
you again, so that my going would not preserve you; and I will therefore
stay and share your fate."
I need not mention all the arguments my father used to persuade me to
leave him, and how I entreated him to allow me to remain. At last he
consented that I should stay with him till just before daybreak, which
is in that, as in most climates, the coolest time generally of the
twenty-four hours. He then proposed that I should plant my whip, with a
piece of handkerchief tied to the end of it, on the top of the highest
rock or piece of ground I should find near, to serve as a mark for his
position, should he not by that time have sufficiently recovered his
strength to set out with me.
"Perhaps I may be able to accompany you part of the way, and then you
will have a less distance to return to look for me," he observed.
As he spoke, however, I could not help remarking, with grief, that there
was a hollow tone in his voice which betokened failing strength, while
his words were uttered with pain and difficulty. I could too well judge
of his sensations by my own; and gladly would I have given the room full
of gold which the unfortunate Inca, Atahualpa, promised to the greedy
Spaniards, for a flask of water to quench the burning thirst which was
consuming us.
Hour after hour passed away, as we sat side by side on the sand. We
spoke but little; indeed I soon fell into a state of dreamy
unconsciousness, which was not sleep, though at the same time I could
not be said to be awake. All sorts of strange sights passed before me,
and strange noises sounded in my ears, though I was sensible that they
were not realities. I saw horses galloping before me, some with riders,
and others wild steeds with flowing manes. Troops of Indians came by in
their feathers and gay dresses, and soldiers marched past with colours
flying and bands playing; and hunters, and dogs, and animals of every
description. Indeed there appeared no end to the phantom shapes which
met my sight.
In vain I endeavoured to arouse myself. A weight I could not throw off
pressed me to the ground. I cannot more particularly describe my
sensations; I only know that they were very dreadful. I was aware that
my father was near me, and that I wished to preserve him from some
danger; but I thought sometimes that we were at sea on a raft; at
others, that we were sliding down a snowy mountain, and that, though I
tried to catch some of the snow in my hand to cool my tongue, it
vanished before it reached my mouth; and then I felt that we were
sinking into the earth, which, as we sunk, grew hotter and hotter, till
it scorched my skin, and I shrieked out with the pain. I started and
lifted up my head; a pair of fierce glowing eyes met my view--a huge
jaguar or tiger stood before me! We eyed each other for a moment with a
fixed gaze. I was more astonished than alarmed; for owing to the state
of stupor from which I had been aroused, I had not time to be aware of
the peril in which we were placed. Fortunately, when I lay down, I had
taken my pistol from my belt, and placed it by my side, ready to grasp
it at a moment's warning. My first impulse was to seize it; and while
the jaguar still stood apparently considering whether he should spring
upon me and carry me off to the mountains to serve him as a banquet, I
lifted the weapon and fired it directly in his face. Startled by so
unexpected a reception, instead of springing forward, he turned round
with a roar of rage and pain, and galloped off across the desert.
The report of the pistol aroused my father, who could scarcely believe
what had occurred. I regretted not having been able to kill the brute;
for, driven to extremity as we were, we should eagerly have drunk his
blood to attempt to quench our thirst. I reloaded my pistol in the
expectation of his return; and grown desperate as I was, I almost hoped
that he would do so, that I might have another chance of shooting him.
The possibility of this served effectually to prevent me from again
falling into a drowsy state, and I believe it was of essential service
to me.
Another risk now occurred to me. Though at present perfectly calm, the
wind might suddenly arise, and should we fall asleep, the sand might be
drifted over us, and we should certainly be suffocated. No mariner,
whose ship is drifting on an unknown lee-shore, ever more earnestly
wished-for daylight than I did for the appearance of dawn, though I was
afraid it could but little avail my poor father.
At length a faint streak appeared in the sky. It was a sign that we
must attempt to proceed on our way or abandon all hope of escape. I
called to my father, whose eyes were closed.
"Yes, my boy," he answered, "I will come;" but when he attempted to
rise, I saw that his strength was not equal to the exertion.
I felt also, when I tried, but little able to walk even by myself, much
less to help him onward. Still the effort must be made. I got myself
on my feet, and raised him also. We staggered onward in the direction,
I supposed, of the oasis. With a melancholy foreboding, however, I felt
that at the pace we were going we should never be able to reach it.
Still I resolved not to give in. Onward we went like two drunken men.
Every instant I thought we should fall to rise no more. I was certain
that if I quitted my father, it would only be to die apart from him,
when death would be doubly bitter. I could no longer see the star which
had before guided us. Either clouds had obscured it, or a mist had
arisen, or my eyes were growing dim. My father was pressing more
heavily on my arm. I tried to support him, but my strength was
insufficient. In the attempt we both fell together. All hope abandoned
me.
"O God, protect my wife and children!" murmured my father.
I also tried to pray, but with difficulty I could collect my thoughts
for a few moments together. I lifted myself on my knees by my father's
side, and raised his head from the sand. Daylight was now coming on,
and with anguish I saw by the expression of his features that if aid was
not speedily afforded, it would be too late to preserve his life.