The public square was lighted, and there in the middle of it he saw the
gallows which had been erected for his execution, and this sight,
doubtless, animated him very much during the first part of his journey.
The terrible trials and hardships which Bartholemy experienced during
his tramp along the coast were such as could have been endured only by
one of the strongest and toughest of men. He had found in the marsh an
old gourd, or calabash, which he had filled with fresh water,--for he
could expect nothing but sea-water during his journey,--and as for
solid food he had nothing but the raw shellfish which he found upon the
rocks; but after a diet of roots, shellfish must have been a very
agreeable change, and they gave him all the strength and vigor he
needed. Very often he found streams and inlets which he was obliged to
ford, and as he could see that they were always filled with alligators,
the passage of them was not very pleasant. His method of getting across
one of these narrow streams, was to hurl rocks into the water until he
had frightened away the alligators immediately in front of him, and
then, when he had made for himself what seemed to be a free passage, he
would dash in and hurry across.
At other times great forests stretched down to the very coast, and
through these he was obliged to make his way, although he could hear the
roars and screams of wild beasts all about him.
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