Page 161 (1/2)

"The stillness was oppressive I went back to my boat, made some coffee

over a spirit-lamp, devoured a few biscuits, and stretched aze at the stars The earth was a mere shadow, formless and

silent, and empty, till a bullock turned up from soe of the bank as though he ht over my boat, blew heavily

once, and walked off contemptuously into the darkness from which he had

coh a moment's

thought would have shown me that there must be lots of cattle and sheep

on that ht have

iined myself arrived on a desert island In fact, as I reclined

srew on me And just as it had

become intense, very abruptly and without any preliminary sound I heard

fir the

cart-track had just stepped at a swinging gait on to the planks That

somebody could only have been Mr Powell Suddenly he stopped short,