with jaggery, sweetmeats, tobacco, betel, tinder-boxes, and a deerskin
for shoes, to keep their feet from thorns, because to them they chiefly
trusted. Being come to the river, they struck into the woods, and kept
by the side of it; yet not going on the sand (lest their footsteps
should be discerned), unless forced, and then going backwards.
Being gotten a good way into the wood, it began to rain; wherefore they
erected their tents, made a fire, and refreshed themselves against the
rising of the moon, which was then eighteen days old; and having tied
deerskins about their feet, and eased themselves of their wares, they
proceeded on their journey. When they had travelled three or four hours
with difficulty, because the moon gave but little light among the thick
trees, they found an elephant in their way before them, and because they
could not scare him away, they were forced to stay till morning; and so
they kindled a fire, and took a pipe of tobacco. By the light they could
not discern that ever anybody had been there, nothing being to be seen
but woods; and so they were in great hopes that they were past all
danger, being beyond all inhabitants; but they were mistaken, for the
river winding northward, brought them into the midst of a parcel of
towns, called Tissea Wava, where, being in danger of being seen, they
were under a mighty terror; for had the people found them, they would
have beat them, and sent them up to the king; and, to avoid it, they
crept into a hollow tree, and sat there in mud and wet till it began to
grow dark, and then betaking themselves to their legs, travelled till
the darkness of night stopped them. They heard voices behind them, and
feared it was somebody in pursuit of them; but at length, discerning
it was only an hallooing to keep the wild beasts out of the corn, they
pitched their tents by the river, and having boiled rice and roasted
meat for their suppers, and satisfied their hunger, they committed
themselves to God's keeping, and laid them down to sleep.
The next morning, to prevent the worst, they got up early and hastened
on their journey; and though they were now got out of all danger of the
tame Chiangulays, they were in great danger of the wild ones, of whom
those woods were full; and though they saw their tents, yet they were
all gone, since the rains had fallen, from the river into the woods; and
so God kept them from that danger, for, had they met the wild men, they
had been shot.
Thus they travelled from morning till night several days, through bushes
and thorns, which made their arms and shoulders, which were naked,
all of a gore blood. They often met with bears, hogs, deer, and wild
buffaloes; but they all ran away as soon as they saw them. The river was
exceedingly full of alligators; in the evening they used to pitch their
tents, and make great fires both before and behind them, to affright
the wild beasts; and though they heard the voices of all sorts, they saw
none.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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