Mr. Stone offered an antelope which had been snared the day before, and fastened within an inclosure which the savages had not entered. He feared that but little was left of his first crop of fruit, and that the next would not be ripe for some weeks; but said, that whatever remained should be carried to any appointed spot. Campbell, the herdsman, said he had not a beast left of all the flocks he had charge of; but he would venture to follow on the track of the savages for a few miles, and if a stray ox or sheep should be left behind, it should be in the camp before nightfall. Upon this, two or three men offered to go out hunting if weapons were furnished; and others proposed fishing, if they had but tackle. “This is all very well,” said the captain, who suspected that neither weapons nor tackle were to be had; “but our object is to find out what food is actually in our possession.” Alas! this was soon made out. There was only Mr. Stone’s antelope, a few oranges, grapes, and figs; some eggs which were found near the roosts, and some fowls which began to appear again after having been scared away by the fires. This was all the provision that could be collected for fifty-four persons. “It is clear, then,” said the captain, “that the greater number of us must disperse in search of food, and that all considerations of removal must be deferred till to-morrow, at least. We are in no condition to travel this day. But our night’s shelter must also be thought of. Let any one speak who has a plan to propose.” Here again there was a pause, for every one was wishing that poor Williams, the carpenter, was among them. At length, Robertson, a farmer said, “If we could find up tools enough, we might have a sort of roof over our heads before night, for I believe there are several here who have been used, like myself, to handle a hatchet, though not as a regular business, like poor Williams who is gone. But if we cannot have tools, I see nothing for it but to sleep under the open sky. It is damp in the woods; and besides, the beasts would couch in our neighbourhood, and the women and children would not sleep for their roaring, even supposing we men could.” “The nights are frosty,” said Mr. Stone; “it is dangerous to sleep unsheltered after such hot days. Who has a hatchet to produce?” Not one was forthcoming, and each looked at his neighbour in dismay. A labourer then proposed that a party of two or three should explore the pass of the mountains to the east, and see whether there were caves, or any places in the rock which might be covered in with boughs and rushes so as to make a convenient sleeping-place.