use I did not know as much of book
learning as they were acquainted with. My books had been the forests,
the plains, the rivers and mountains, and the skies above us. To read
from the signs on the ground what animals had travelled over it, and
when they had travelled, was an interesting book to me, and quite
intelligible. To know the time at night by the position of certain
stars was also a page that was intelligible; but how should I feel when
asked to read from a printed book, and found myself laughed at as a
dunce? I had already seen that white men were suspicious of me, and
acted on these suspicions alone. Considering all these points, I felt
quite undecided whether to again join the Umzimvubu Caffres, and live
all my life as a Caffre; or wait on the chance of some ship coming into
the harbour, and of being able to get a passage to Cape Town or England.

Although much pre-occupied with these thoughts, I did not neglect the
necessities of the present. I must make myself secure from the possible
attacks of two forest enemies, viz., snakes and leopards. I must sleep,
and when asleep I might be seized by a leopard, or be coiled round by a
rock-snake; for there were, I knew, rock-snakes in this bush at least
thirty feet long, and to be seized by one of these monsters would be
certain death. There was no time before dark to build a kraal, so I cut
down branches and brushwood, and arranged this in a circle round the
spot on which I intended to pass the night. I cut also two sticks, one
having a large knob at the end; the other, which was very hard wood, I
sharpened so that it was like a spear. This was the best I could do in
the short time before it came dark. I then lay down and listened to
hear what might occur near me.

I soon heard some rustling in the bush, which sometimes came near and
then went away to a distance. This might be caused by a buck, but it
might be a leopard. It was so dark that I could see nothing. The
nights in Africa are darker than they are in England; and when I held my
hand up I could not see it, though it was not half a yard from my eyes.
It is difficult to imagine anything more exciting and trying to the
nerves than to be thus alone in the bush during a dark night; when you
know that dangerous animals are near you, and when noises indicate that
these animals are aware of your presence, and are examining you to see
whether you can be safely attacked. To sleep was impossible; I did