wait for the setting of this luminary, which was not till near five
o'clock in the morning. My only relief during this interval was to allow
myself to sink to the bottom of my cavern, it being scarcely possible
for me to continue any longer on my feet. Here I fell into an
interrupted and unrefreshing doze, the consequence of a laborious night,
and a tedious, melancholy day; though I rather sought to avoid sleep,
which, cooperating with the coldness of the season, would tend more to
injury than advantage.

The period of darkness, which I had determined to use for the purpose of
removing to a greater distance from my prison, was, in its whole
duration, something less than three hours. When I rose from my seat, I
was weak with hunger and fatigue, and, which was worse, I seemed,
between the dampness of the preceding day and the sharp, clear frost of
the night, to have lost the command of my limbs. I stood up and shook
myself; I leaned against the side of the hill, impelling in different
directions the muscles of the extremities; and at length recovered in
some degree the sense of feeling. This operation was attended with an
incredible aching pain, and required no common share of resolution to
encounter and prosecute it. Having quitted my retreat, I at first
advanced with weak and tottering steps; but, as I proceeded, increased
my pace. The barren heath, which reached to the edge of the town, was,
at least on this side, without a path; but the stars shone, and, guiding
myself by them, I determined to steer as far as possible from the
hateful scene where I had been so long confined. The line I pursued was
of irregular surface, sometimes obliging me to climb a steep ascent, and
at others to go down into a dark and impenetrable dell. I was often
compelled, by the dangerousness of the way, to deviate considerably from
the direction I wished to pursue. In the mean time I advanced with as
much rapidity as these and similar obstacles would permit me to do. The