A HOWLING WILDERNESS.

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tain none now; it has sunk into the ground. He observes two rows of trees and bushes at a distance, which raises hope in his mind, expecting there to find a river. He hastens to the spot; but on reaching the banks, he finds the stream is dried up; not a drop of water is visible, for it only runs after rains. He then digs a few feet under the surface, in the bed or channel of the river, in hopes of reaching some remnant of its waters, but finds his labour is fruitless; the water has either sunk beyond his reach, or has been exhaled into the heavens. He has no expectation of relief from a shower falling that evening, or week, or month, for it is a land of DROUGHT, as no rain has fallen for the preceding six, twelve, or eighteen months. Would it be surprising to hear the traveller's assistants express themselves thus: "This is, indeed, a great and terrible wilderness, a land of drought, where no water is!"

There were also fiery serpents and scorpions. It is believed in Africa that the most poisonous serpents were in the most arid parts, and where the heat was greatest. In such parts I uniformly found the scorpions most numerous. ledge of this being the case, might render the wilderness through which the Israelites travelled more terrible to them.

The know

A HOWLING WILDERNESS.

He found him in a desert land, and in a waste HOWLING wilderness.-DEUT. xxxii. 10.

The

cry

of the wolf is howling; and no animal

is more frequently found in very desert parts than the wolf, and no creature whose cry I heard, appeared to me to have so melancholy a sound as it. Howl is also sometimes applied to human beings in horror, as in Isaiah xiii. 6: "Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty."

A LAND OF PITS.

Where is the Lord that brought us out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and PITS, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?-JER. ii. 6.

In the wild Bushman country, dangerous pits are very general. They are not natural pits, but are dug by the natives to ensnare wild animals for food. They are from four to six feet deep, many of them having a sharp pointed stake firmly fixed in the bottom. The mouth is slightly covered with twigs, or small branches from the trees, which are strewed over with grass, to prevent animals observing it. The instant they happen incautiously to tread upon it, they sink into it, head foremost, and dash against the stake at the bottom, from which they cannot extricate themselves. Such pits are not only dangerous to beasts, but equally so to man, if he does not walk very circumspectly, and particularly so when travelling in the night-time.

The passage may perhaps refer to the existence

DANGER FROM WILD BEASTS.

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of similar pits in the wilderness through which the Israelites had to pass on their journey from Egypt to Canaan.

"A land of the shadow of death." If we walk upon the shadow of a mountain, we must be near it, or tread on the shadow of a man, we must be near him; so a land of the shadow of death must be a hazardous or dangerous land, where travellers take their lives in their hand,-where no man passes through,-where there is neither road nor accommodation, no settled inhabitant, -a land completely forsaken.

A CITY SURROUNDED BY WILD BEASTS.

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.-JER. v. 6.

The lion prowls about in the day, which I have often witnessed in Africa; but the habits of the wolf are different, as it seldom makes its appearance before sun-set, after which it comes forth, like other thieves of the night, in search of prey. I never, when moving about in Africa, saw more than one wolf stalking about in daylight, and that was in a most forsaken part, where, to a great extent, the land was absolutely paved with flag-stones, the same as the side pavements in our streets; but when night came, they were constantly howling and hovering around our encampment.

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A LAMB SENT TO THE RULER.

The habit of the leopard, also, is to be slumbering in concealment during the day; but the darkness rouses him, and he comes forth seeking what he may devour. It is of the tiger species, and rather smaller. The wolves and leopards should have the boldness to prowl about their cities, as the wild beasts did about our waggons in the wilderness, so that it should be most hazardous for man or beast to venture outside their walls.

SENDING A LAMB TO THE RULER.

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.-ISAIAH XVI. 1.

Mateebe, king of Lattakoo, before I went to some nations beyond him, would not consent to my visiting Makkabba, king of the Wanketzens: his reason was, because he had never sent him the signs of friendship and peace, which should have been a present of some cattle. The signs or confirmations of peace among the interior nations of South Africa, are the exchange of presents of cattle. Perhaps this is a custom of great antiquity, and may assist in throwing light on the above passage. Some tribute may have been withheld.

WATERS THAT FAIL.

Wilt thou be altogether unto us as a liar, and as waters that FAIL, or be not sure ?—JER. XV. 10.

Crossing a desert on the western side of Africa,

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nearly 100 miles broad, in which there was no water, after leaving the last spring of water on the margin of the desert, we travelled, chiefly over deep sand, for 15 hours. To rest the oxen,

though there was neither grass nor water, we halted five hours; after which we went forward, for 18 hours more, without a halt, during which time the groans of the oxen, from thirst and fatigue, were most distressing to hear.

About the commencement of the 19th hour, the cry of "Water! water! water!" was raised by the Hottentots, on perceiving the oxen giving signs that they smelled it. After some consideration, by smelling in every direction, they hastened towards a corner at the bottom of a low hill, where, indeed, there was a considerable pool, but the water had FAILED, or sunk into the ground, evidently not more than one or two days before, as the ground was still damp over the whole bottom.

This pool might be called a liar, for by its scent it raised expectations of relief from it, which hopes were blasted on reaching it, and finding it empty. From this disappointment we should not afterwards have trusted to it for relief in similar circumstances.

A GREAT ROCK IN A WEARY LAND.

A man shall be an hiding-place from the wind, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.—ISAIAH Xxxii. 2.

Well does the traveller remember a day in the