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"My travels were long and the sufferings I endured intense. It

was late in autumn when I quitted the district where I had so

long resided. I travelled only at night, fearful of encountering

the visage of a human being. Nature decayed around me, and the

sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me; mighty

rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill,

and bare, and I found no shelter. Oh, earth! How often did I

imprecate curses on the cause of my being! The mildness of my

nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and

bitterness. The nearer I approached to your habitation, the more

deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge enkindled in my heart.

Snow fell, and the waters were hardened, but I rested not. A few

incidents now and then directed me, and I possessed a map of the

country; but I often wandered wide from my path.