CHAPTER VII.
The agonies of thirst--A ghastly drink--I ask Yamba to kill me--My ministering angel--How Yamba caught opossum--The water witch--A barometer of snakes--The coming deluge--The plunge into the Rapids--A waste of waters--A fearful situation--Barking alligators--English-speaking natives--A ship at last--I abandon hope--The deserted settlement.
By this time I began to feel quite delirious; I fear I was like a baby in Yamba's hands.

She knew that all I wanted was water, and became almost distracted when she could not find any for me.

Of herself she never thought.

And yet she was full of strange resources and devices.

When I moaned aloud in an agony of thirst, she would give me some kind of grass to chew; and although this possessed no real moisture, yet it promoted the flow of saliva, and thus slightly relieved me.
Things grew worse and worse, however, and the delirium increased.