e smallness of the shot, the great bustard--for
it proved to be a bustard--was rolled over on the grass, as dead as a
nail in a door. So said Ben as he picked it up, and brought it into our
camp.

We now set to work upon the bird; and, after plucking, and cleaning it,
we kindled a fire, and placed it in the blaze to roast. We might not
have cooked it in the most elegant manner, and perhaps it was a little
smoked; but if so, we did not notice this while eating it, for we both
ate heartily, and thought it the most delicious morsel we had ever
tasted. Certainly after the salt meat, to which we had been so long
accustomed, a fresh bustard--which is one of the richest flavoured of
game birds--could not be otherwise than a delicacy; and so much did we
relish it, that before going to sleep we made a fresh onset upon the
bird, and very nearly finished it, large as it was.

We washed the supper down with a drink of cool water from the crystal
spring; and then we began to consider where we should stretch our bodies
for the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

At first we were inclined to remain where we had cooked and eaten our
supper. The water was convenient, and there was long bunch grass upon
which we could rest very comfortably.

But although it was then warm enough, and we might have gone to sleep
without feeling any cold, we knew it would be different towards the
middle of the night. We knew this from the experience we had already
had of this part of the country--for notwithstanding the great heat of
the sun during the day, at night there were heavy dews, and the air was
often foggy and chill. Some nights on board the barque we had found it
cold enough for all the blankets we could get. Perhaps it was not
absolutely so cold as we fancied it, for at this time I knew nothing
about the thermometer. It is like enough that we felt the cold of the
night more keenly, on account of its contrast with the great heat of the
day; and as we were usually at hard work, and perspiring all day long,
of course our blood was not prepared for the change.

That day had been a particularly hot one, and in walking over the
palm-nuts, and toiling through thickets and other difficult places, we
had been in a profuse perspiration all day long. As we had no blankets
to cover us--nothing but our very lightest clothing--we would be likely
to suffer during the night with the damp dew falling upon our bodies.
True, we had the lion's hide wit