. He had drawn
a long knife from his girdle, which he clutched in one hand, while he
ran the fore finger of the other along its edge. I now for the first
time got a full view of his face, and the impression it made upon me was
any thing but favourable. His countenance was the wildest I had ever
seen; his bloodshot eyes rolled like balls of fire in their sockets;
while his movements and manner were indicative of a violent inward
struggle. He did not stand still for three seconds together, but paced
backwards and forwards with hurried irregular steps, casting wild
glances over his shoulder, his fingers playing all the while with the
knife, with the rapid and objectless movements of a maniac.

I felt convinced that I was the cause of the struggle visibly going on
within him, that my life or death was what he was deciding upon. But in
the state I then was, death had no terror for me. The image of my
mother, sisters, and father, passed before my eyes. I gave one thought
to my peaceful happy home, and then looked upwards and prayed.

The man had walked off to some distance. I turned myself a little more
round, and, as I did so, I caught sight of the sane magnificent
phenomenon which I had met with on the second day of my wanderings. The
colossal live oak rose in all its silvery splendour, at the distance of
a couple of miles. Whilst I was gazing at it, and reflecting on the
strange ill luck that had made me pass within so short a distance of the
river without finding it, I saw my new acquaintance approach a
neighbouring cluster of trees, amongst which he disappeared.

After a short time I again perceived him coming towards me with a slow
and staggering step. As he drew near, I had an opportunity of examining
his whole appearance. He was very tall and lean, but large-boned, and
apparently of great strength. His face, which had not been shaved for
several weeks, was so tanned by sun and weather, that he might have been
taken for an Indian, had not the beard proved his claim to white blood.
But his eyes were what most struck me. There was something so
frightfully wild in their expression, a look of terror and desperation,
like that of a man whom all the furies of hell were hunting and
persecuting. His hair hung in long ragged locks over his forehead,
cheeks, and neck, and round his head was bound a handkerchief, on which
were several stains of a brownish black colour. Spots of the same kind
were visible upon his leathern jacke