I thought at last we should be obliged to stop, when before us lay a narrow passage, only fifty yards wide, with a roaring furnace on either side. Our wheels crunched over the glowing cinders, which strewed the soil, and a burning, stifling atmosphere enveloped us.
We were past!
At two in the morning a flash of lightning revealed to us the borders of the wood. Behind us lay a vast panorama of flames, which would spread on, and never stop until they had devoured the very last banyan of the immense forest.
At daybreak we halted at last; the storm had entirely ceased, and we arranged our camp. Our elephant, who was carefully examined, was found to have the tip of his right ear pierced by several holes running in diverse directions. If such a thing had happened to any other creature than an
