ightest idea on what side of us lay the river, or the
barque, or the barracoon of King Dingo Bingo.

After resting a bit--for we had got quite tired, fagging backward and
forward through the woods--we took a fresh start, and this time walked
on for three miles or more in a straight course. It was all guess-work,
however, and a bad guess it turned out to be; for, instead of getting
into the low bottom lands that lay along the banks of the river, we
found ourselves coming out into a hilly country, which was open and
thinly timbered. We saw plenty of game on all sides--antelopes of
several kinds--but we were now so anxious about our way, that we never
thought of stopping to have a shot at them. At that moment we would
rather have seen the royal-mast of the _Pandora_ than the largest herd
of antelopes in the world.

One of the hills in advance of us appeared to be higher than the rest;
and as it also appeared the nearest, Ben proposed we should continue on
to its top. By so doing we should gain a view of the surrounding
country, and would be likely to see the river, and perhaps the barque
herself.

Of course I made no objection--as I was entirely guided by my
companion's advice--and we at once set out for the hill.

It appeared to be only a mile or two distant; but, to our great
surprise, when we had walked a full mile it seemed no nearer than ever!

But this was not the worst of it, for when we had walked another mile,
we still appeared no nearer to the hill than when we had first started
for it; and then a third mile was passed over, and the distance that
intervened between us and the eminence was, to all appearance, but
slightly diminished!

Had it been left to me, I should have given up all hope of reaching that
hill, and would have gone back as we had come; but my companion was a
man of wonderful perseverance in anything he undertook, and now that he
had started for the hill, he was determined that no halt should be made
until we had got to the very summit of it--even though it should take us
till sunset to accomplish the journey. So on we trudged, keeping the
top of the hill in view, and facing straight for it all the while.

It was a far longer journey than we had anticipated. It could not have
been less than ten good English miles from the place where we had first
observed it, to the highest part, though when starting for it, it looked
only one! But such is the pureness of the atmosphere in some parts