The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-30

l T1FNo SS5i I1G N
i KIND OFFICES OF THE M
Z nGDl ClSE-t Et| W
and active, though without water; and IN
nv most violent paroxysm she Woulu
pounce upon lizard or rat, ana give me az,
It's warm blood to drink while yet II
lived She must. have seen that i Was
slowly sinking, for at last she stoopeu
down and whispered earnestly IN my ca, ear
that she would leave me for niue Wllii e
and go off in search of water. hlhe "a d
dream it comes back to me how she Elk
plained that she had seen some plros
passing overhead, and that if she followed
in the same direction she was almost GER
tain to come up with water soohei VI
I could not speak, 1 could not answer,
but 1 felt it was truly noPeiess ent a,
her to leave me, / remember Ile.o e 0u
my tomahawk feeoly toward her ana
signed to her TO come and strike me ms ,, on
the head with it, and put an ehd 70 - my ny
indescribable agonies. The heroic creature
smiled sadly and shook her head en-
phatically. She took the RrQ pre- eoyT a
weapon however, and after putting soIile
distinguishing marks on my tree WIZ fro ~,
she hurled it some distance away run
me. She then stopped ana ND. ProIPpI eayi irle
my poor suffering dog to keep me com
pany, she set out on her lonely search
with long, Looping strides of amazing Y1gor.
II was late in the afternoon when she
took her departure. and lay there nour
after hour, sometimes frantically dellri-
Gus, and at others IN a state u Sedli-NCi
seriousness, fancying she was by my side
with shells trimming over with the pre-
cious fluid. L would rouse myself with
a start from time to time, but, aIas!
Yamba was not near me. During the long
and deathly stiffness of the night the dew
come down heavily, and as 1t enveloped
which l was awakened some hours later
by the same clear and ringing voice that
had addressed me on that still night on
my island sandspit. Out upon the impress
sive stiffness of the air rang the earnest
words, Coupe Iarbrei Coupe, l'arbrre!'
was quite conscious and much re-
zled me a great deal. At first I thought
it must have been Yamba's voice, but |
remembered that she did not know word
of French, and as looked around there
was no one to be seen. The mysterious
message still rang in my ears, but was
far too weak to attempt to cut the tree
drowsiness, until, rousing myself, heard
the familiar footsteps of Yamba approach
ing the spot where l lay. Her face ex-
pressed anxiety, earneStneSS and JOY.
MY MINISTERING ANGEL.
In her trembling hands she bore a big
leaf containing two or three ounces of
life-gfving water. This drank with gasp
ing eagerness, as you may suppose. My
deiirium had now entirely left me- al
though 1 was still unable to speak.
signed to her to cut the tree, as the voice
a word of question Yamba picked up the
tomahawk from where she had hurled
1t and then cut vigorously into the tree,
making a hole three or four inches deep.
1t may seem astonishing to you, but it
surprised me in no wise, when out from
the hole there. trickled clear uncertain
promptly held my fevered head. This had
a wonderfully refreshing effect upon me-
and in a short. time I was able to speak
light of my faithful companion. AS, how
ever, ] was still too weak to move, in
dqlged In another the. and far sounder sleep.
Yamba was far away searching for
water, Bruno had never left my side,
looking into my face wistfully and occa-
with his poor, parched tongue
While I was asleep the second time
Yamba had gone off with the dog in
an opossum, which was soon frizzling
in an appetiZing way on a tripod of
sticks over blazing fire. I was able to
ali the water we wanted from our Won
derful tree. l have since learned that
my life was saved by, the well-known Aus
shape Of the trunk.
1 was often amazed at the marvellous
way in which Yamba would track game.
She would GLANCE at a tree casually
and discern on the bark certain minute
me even when pointed out. She would
then climb up Ike a monkey and would
return to the =, earth ,, with good--sized
skin and accompanied with many different
varieties of delicious roots. When I had
recovered, Yamba told me she had walked
many miles during the night, and had
finally discovered q full waterhoIe in a
new country, for which she said we must
make as soon as I was sufficiently strong.
Fortunately, this did not take very long,
and on reaching the brink of the water,
hole we camped beside 1t for several days.
in order to recuperate. / must say that
the liquid we found here did not look very
inviting-it was, in fact, very Shiny and
green In color; but by the time we took
our departure there was not drop left
Yamba had a method of filtration which
excited my admiration. She dug another
hole alongside the one containing the
water leaving a few inches of earth be-
tween them, and then forced a stick
to drink. this stick was withdrawn. A
stream of comparatively clear water then
spirited through the opening. She would
also filter the water by letting 1t drain
from the waterhole into another hole due
at the side.
At other times, when no ordinary human
being could detect the presence of water.
she would point out to me a little knob
of clay on the ground. This she told me,
denoted the presence of frog, and she
would at once thrust down reed about
eighteen inches long and invite me to suck
the upper end, with the result that I i'm
bibed copious draughts OF delicious cold
water.