m my companions, I walked on into the
interior. I was thinking of turning back, for the day was far advanced,
when my attention was attracted by a column of smoke ascending from
among a grove of trees in a valley at no great distance from me, and
being curious to ascertain the cause of it, I proceeded in that
direction.

"On reaching a hill which overlooked the spot, I perceived several human
beings seated round a large fire in front of a rude hut, and busily
employed in cutting slices from an ox, which was roasting whole before
it, and which they transferred to their mouths, smacking their lips to
signify their high relish for the feast.

"I was very hungry, and certainly felt an inclination for a piece of the
savoury morsels, the odour of which ascended to where I stood, but
prudence advised me to retire, for I could not tell what the disposition
of the savages might be. For what I knew to the contrary, they might
spit and roast me as their dessert.

"There appeared to be a family group. There were an old man and woman
whom I took to be the father and mother, three younger females, whom I
judged to be daughters, and two sons. All of them were dressed in
skins, and I was enabled to distinguish the females by their having
petticoats, and their hair braided in long plaits, which reached to the
ground. Their personal appearance was not prepossessing, and their
voices were so loud that I could hear every word they uttered, though of
course I could not understand their language. I was on the point of
retreating, when one of the young ladies, turning her head, perceived me
watching them, and, with a loud cry, rising from her seat, she ran
towards me. I had not before remarked the height of the savages, but as
they all stood up, I now perceived that she was full ten feet high, and
yet the shortest of the party. Although not afraid, for fear was a
stranger to my bosom, I yet did not relish the thoughts of having to
encounter such formidable-looking personages, and therefore set off
towards the shore as fast as my legs would carry me, but I soon found,
by the shouts astern, that the young giantess had made chase, and,
turning my head over my shoulder, I saw that she was coming up hand over
hand with me. I was on the top of the hill and she was at the bottom,
but that made little difference to her, for on she bounded, like a
kangaroo or a tiger, and I felt convinced that on flat ground I should
have no chance of esca