dashing through the bushes
towards the place where we had rested.

"After me, mate, after me," he cried.

I did require to be told to hurry, for the flames were leaping up from
all the surrounding shrubs, and climbing many of the higher trees. I
overtook him before we reached our encampment.

"Pick up our traps and come along," shouted Ned, as he made his way
towards the path by which we entered the glen. I stopped at our bivouac
and collected our packages of provisions, and our other property. Just
as I was coming away, my eye fell on Ned's knife. I put it in my
pocket, and was looking to see if I could find any other article, when
the flames caught hold of the surrounding bushes, and warned me to beat
a retreat. They crackled and hissed and roared in my rear as I ran on.
A light breeze had sprung up, and blew them towards us. Fortunately the
bright light they caused enabled us to see our way, or we should have
had great difficulty in escaping from the glen.

Heavy as Pedro was, Ned bore him like a child up the rough ascent. The
fire flew from shrub to shrub, and extended in every direction; the
smoke, too, increased in denseness, and almost stifled us. I could
scarcely breathe, and expected every moment to sink from exhaustion; but
the brave sailor was not to be daunted. Crying out to me to follow, he
pushed on over all impediments. I kept close to him, and in a few
minutes, which seemed an age, we reached the more level ground above the
dell. Ned stopped for an instant to gather breath, but before I had
time to discover more than that Pedro still breathed, we were compelled
to continue our flight, not only by the approach of the smoke and
flames, but by a new danger. The jaguar we had killed was not the only
inhabitant of the glen of his species, and as the path we had taken was
the chief outlet in that direction, a number of animals of all
descriptions came rushing out close to us. I had turned my head to look
at the blazing furnace below us, when, to my dismay, I saw close behind
me a huge animal, which I at once guessed was a female jaguar, followed
by several cubs. I cried out to Ned to hurry on with his burden, and
swinging my stick about me, I dealt her a heavy blow on the head, which
appeared somewhat to astonish her. At any other time she would probably
quickly have avenged the insult; but, frightened by the flames, she
merely uttered a growl of anger and turned on one side, followed by her