do is just to follow this stream, and sooner or later it will
lead us into the vale.'

'You are right, Toby,' I exclaimed, 'you are right; it must conduct us
thither, and quickly too; for, see with what a steep inclination the
water descends.'

'It does, indeed,' burst forth my companion, overjoyed at my
verification of his theory, 'it does indeed; why, it is as plain as a
pike-staff. Let us proceed at once; come, throw away all those stupid
ideas about the Typees, and hurrah for the lovely valley of the
Happars.'

'You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray Heaven you
may not find yourself deceived,' observed I, with a shake of my head.

'Amen to all that, and much more,' shouted Toby, rushing forward; 'but
Happar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be. So glorious a
valley--such forests of bread-fruit trees--such groves of cocoanut--such
wilderness of guava-bushes! Ah! shipmate! don't linger behind: in the
name of all delightful fruits, I am dying to be at them. Come on, come
on; shove ahead, there's a lively lad; never mind the rocks; kick them
out of the way, as I do; and tomorrow, old fellow, take my word for
it, we shall be in clover. Come on;' and so saying, he dashed along the
ravine like a madman, forgetting my inability to keep up with him. In a
few minutes, however, the exuberance of his spirits abated, and, pausing
for a while, he permitted me to overtake him.

CHAPTER NINE

PERILOUS PASSAGE OF THE RAVINE--DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY

The fearless confidence of Toby was contagious, and I began to adopt the
Happar side of the question. I could not, however, overcome a certain
feeling of trepidation as we made our way along these gloomy solitudes.
Our progress, at first comparatively easy, became more and more
difficult. The bed of the watercourse was covered with fragments of
broken rocks, which had fallen from above, offering so many obstructions
to the course of the rapid stream, which vexed and fretted about
them,--forming at intervals small waterfalls, pouring over into deep
basins, or splashing wildly upon heaps of stones.

From the narrowness of the gorge, and the steepness of its sides, there
was no mode of advancing but by wading through the water; stumbling
every moment over the impediments which lay hidden under its surface,
or tripping against the huge roots of trees. But the most annoying
hindrance we encountered was from a multitude of crooked boughs, which,
shoo