and stay and hope; and if the
monster were deprived of food he might turn upon us and satisfy upon
us his ravenous appetite. These thoughts were painful indeed, and
added to my despondency.

Suddenly I heard the sound of running water. I started away toward the
place from which the sound came, and found, only a little distance
off, a small brook trickling along on its way to the shore. I called
Almah, and we both drank and were refreshed.

This showed an easy way to get to the shore, and I determined to go
there to see if there were any fish to be found. Shell-fish might be
there, or the carcasses of dead fish thrown up by the sea, upon which
the athaleb might feed. I left my pistol with Almah, telling her to
fire it if she heard me fire, for I was afraid of losing my way,
and therefore took this precaution. I left it lying on the rock
full-cocked, and directed her to point it in the air and pull the
trigger. It was necessary to take these precautions, as of course she
was quite ignorant of its nature. After this I left her and tried to
follow the torrent.

This, however, I soon found to be impossible, for the brook on
reaching a huge rock plunged underneath it and became lost to view. I
then went toward the shore as well as I could--now climbing over sharp
rocks, now going round them, until at length after immense labor I
succeeded in reaching the water. Here the scene was almost as wild
as the one I had left. There was no beach whatever--nothing but a
vast extent of wild fragments of fractured lava-blocks, which were
evidently the result of some comparatively recent convulsion of
nature, for their edges were still sharp, and the water had not worn
even those which were within its grasp to anything like roundness,
or to anything else than the jagged and shattered outlines which had
originally belonged to them. All the shore thus consisted of vast
rocky blocks, over which the sea beat in foam.

Eager to find something, I toiled along this rocky shore for a long
distance, but without seeing any change. I was unwilling to go back
baffled, yet I was at length compelled to do so. But the necessity of
feeding the athaleb was pressing, and I saw that our only course now
would be to mount him again, leave this place, and seek some other.
But where could we go? That I could not imagine, and could only
conclude to trust altogether to the instinct of the athaleb, which
might guide him to places where he might obtain food. S