Dreading its dangerous proximity, they had kept under cover of the bushes while contemplating the ruin from a distance; and it was not until after a considerable interval had elapsed that they ventured forward over the open space to ascertain the full extent of the damage.
This they at length did, and found that it was _total_ destruction.

So far as the hut was concerned, not a vestige of construction remained-- walls and roof had been alike levelled with the ground.

But what was a greater source of chagrin to the now homeless plant-hunters, was that their little store of ammunition--the gunpowder, which during all the period of their imprisonment they had been carefully hoarding--was spilled among the rubbish, and of course irrecoverable.

It had been deposited in a large gourd-shell prepared for the purpose; and this, among other similar chattels, the enraged quadruped had crushed under its feet.

Their cured provisions had also been turned out from their place of deposit, and trampled into the dust of the earth.