hat it would have been strange in
that rich forest if I had not been able to discover something to stay my
famine. It was little, but it sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was
merciful to me; for that diligent seeking among the concealing leaves
left no interval for thought; every chance morsel gave a momentary
pleasure, and as I prolonged my search my steps grew firmer, the dimness
passed from my eyes. I was more forgetful of self, more eager, and like
a wild animal with no thought or feeling beyond its immediate wants.
Fatigued at the end, I fell asleep as soon as darkness brought my busy
rambles to a close, and did not wake until another morning dawned.

My hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes of a pair of small birds,
persistently flitting round me, or perched with gaping bills and
wings trembling with agitation, served to remind me that it was now
breeding-time; also that Rima had taught me to find a small bird's nest.
She found them only to delight her eyes with the sight; but they would
be food for me; the crystal and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white
or blue or red-speckled shells would help to keep me alive. All day I
hunted, listening to every note and cry, watching the motions of every
winged thing, and found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests
containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although the labour was
great and the scratches many, I was well satisfied with the result.

A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, and eagerly began
picking it from the tree; not that it could be used, but the thought of
the brilliant light it gave was so strong in my mind that mechanically I
gathered it all. The possession of this gum, when night closed round
me again, produced in me an intense longing for artificial light and
warmth. The darkness was harder than ever to endure. I envied the
fireflies their natural lights, and ran about in the dusk to capture a
few and hold them in the hollow of my two hands, for the sake of their
cold, fitful flashes. On the following day I wasted two or three hours
trying to get fire in the primitive method with dry wood, but failed,
and lost much time, and suffered more than ever from hunger in
consequence. Yet there was fire in everything; even when I struck at
hard wood with my knife, sparks were emitted. If I could only arrest
those wonderful heat- and light-giving sparks! And all at once, as if I
had just lighted upon some new, wonderful truth, it occu