I then skinned the cub, put a sufficient quantity of its tender fat meat to roast at the fire, made a bed of brushwood, and after supper I rolled myself in the shaggy, fresh bear-hide upon my deer-skin, and fell into my usual sound sleep. I had not been sleeping long when Trusty barked sharply several times, and I sat up and seized my rifle. A frightful howling of wolves rang from the heights through the valleys, and between it a hollow roar resembling that which the bear raised when she attacked me. The night was very dark, and the fire, which had burnt down, solely lit up the nearest spots, while I could only distinguish the outlines of some evergreen holly-trees around me standing out against the clear star-lit sky. I quickly threw some small wood in front of the glowing trunk and blew up the flame. At this moment I heard something dash away close by, and directly after, at the foot of the ravine, renewed howls and roars, while Trusty stood close by my side growling. I carried some heavy logs to the fire, rolled myself again in my warm skin, and fell asleep, though I only allowed one ear to sleep, as Tiger said. The howling lasted the whole night. I looked after my fire every now and then, and was waked by the dawn without having had my sleep any further disturbed. After breakfast, I hung the two skins on my back, and followed the valley for about three miles ere I crossed the heights to the north, as I wished to avoid the spot where the bear lay, upon which the wolves and bears had held a grand feast during the past night. On reaching the saddle of the mountain, the idea occurred to me for the first time that the lost river must necessarily flow to the north, and I was amazed at myself for not thinking of this sooner. Hence I marched due west, and saw about noon a chain of hills whose direction lay northward, which animated me with fresh hope of finding my comrades again. At the foot of these hills, from which spurs stretched out eastward like ribs, the valleys were thickly wooded, and displayed generally a richer vegetation than the small gulleys in which I had hitherto been marching. With much difficulty and toil I reached the mountain chain in a few hours, exhausted and starving; but the longing to learn whether I should find at its top a pleasanter change in my prospects did not let me rest. I selected the least steep spot, and climbed up over loose boulders which constantly rolled away under me and brought me down. I had only one hand at my service to hold on to the few mimosa bushes or to pull myself up, for I carried my rifle in the other, and would sooner have injured myself than it.