It was not, however, one that was to be relieved by an ordinary
discharge of thunder, lightning, and rain--deeper causes being evidently
at work. The denseness of the air was accompanied by a semi-darkness,
similar to that which prevails during an eclipse of the sun, which
luminary, on the occasion I refer to, after all day emitting a lurid
glare, was so shrouded in vapour as to be scarcely discernible, even in
outline--while a subterranean noise added to the terrors of our
situation, which strongly called to mind the accounts we read of
earthquakes and similar phenomena.
We moved slowly on, as people naturally would who were about to be
overwhelmed in a calamity that threatened their annihilation, while an
indefinable sensation of sleepiness and inertia seized the whole of the
party. Vultures and other birds of prey screamed dismally, as they
hovered round our heads in the greatest excitement, arising either from
terror or the anticipation of a rich repast, we could not tell which.
These voracious creatures, with great audacity, often descended to
within a few feet of the heads of our horses, which seemed
terror-stricken at their near approach.
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