ners,
and we no more stole the musket than they could be said to have stolen
our ship. Am I not right, Mr Seagrave?"

"I believe you are justified in what may seem extreme acts for the
recovery of your liberty, after you have been made prisoners. It has
always been so considered."

"Well, sir, to go on: we waited till dusk, and then we continued our
march towards False Bay as fast as we could. We knew that there were
farmers down in the valley, or rather on the sides of the hills, and we
hoped to obtain, by some means or other, two more muskets. It was near
twelve o'clock at night, with a bright moon, when we had a sight of the
water in False Bay, and soon afterwards we heard the baying of a large
dog, and not far from us we distinguished two or three farmhouses, with
their cattle-folds and orchards. We then looked for a hiding-place,
where we might remain till the morning; we found one between some large
pieces of rock. We agreed that one should watch while the other two
slept; this Hastings undertook to do, as he was not inclined to sleep.
At daylight he woke Romer and me, and we made our breakfast. From the
place we were concealed in, we had a bird's-eye view of the farmhouse,
and of what was going on.

"The farmhouse and buildings just below us were much smaller than the
other two, which were more distant. We watched the people as they went
about. In about an hour the Hottentots came out, and we perceived that
they were yoking the oxen to the waggon; they yoked twelve pair, and
then the Hottentot driver got in and drove off towards Cape Town. Soon
after that, another Hottentot drove the cows up the valley to feed; and
then a Dutch woman came out of the house with two children, and fed the
poultry.

"We watched for another hour, and then the farmer himself made his
appearance, with a pipe in his mouth, and sat down on a bench. When his
pipe was out, he called to the house, and a Hottentot woman came to him
with more tobacco and a light. During the whole of the day we did not
see any other people about the house, so we concluded that there were no
more than the farmer, his wife, the Hottentot woman, and two children.
About two hours after noon the farmer went to the stable and led out his
horse, mounted, and rode away; we saw him speak to the Hottentot woman
when he rode off, and she soon after went down the valley with a basket
on her head, and a long knife in her hand. Then Hastings said it was
tim