The sun was not more than three hours
high, when I had already cooked the best part of the horse. All the
unfortunates were still asleep, and I found it was no easy matter to
awake them. At last, I hit upon an expedient which did not fail; I stuck
the ramrod of my gun into a smoking piece of meat, and held it so that
the fumes should rise under their very noses. No fairy wand was ever
more effective; in less than two minutes they were all chewing and
swallowing their breakfast, with an energy that had anything but sleep
in it. It is no easy matter to satisfy twenty hungry Russians; but still
there is an end to everything. One of them knelt before me and kissed my
feet. Poor fellow! he thought that I had done a great deal for him and
his companions, forgetting that perhaps I owed my own life to them.
The men were tired: but when they heard that they could reach a city in
the afternoon, they made preparation for departure with great alacrity.
We pulled slowly along the coast, for the heat was intense, and the
rowers fast losing their strength. At one o'clock I landed at my former
encampment. The padre had, of course, left the oars, sail, and blankets.
My skiff was rigged in a moment; and out of the blankets, those in the
long-boat managed to make a sail, an oar and a long pole tied together
answering for a mast.
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