e
upon their doorsteps. Therefore, to avoid unpleasantness, we retired,
in many cases rather precipitately. Ultimately, however, we came upon a
cave that for some inexplicable reason was untenanted, and seemed to be
everything that could reasonably be desired. It was situated high up on
the side of the hill, and the entrance was so small that we were obliged
to bend almost double in order to pass through. But once past the
entrance the cave widened out until its interior was as spacious as that
of half a dozen forecastles knocked into one, with head-room of ten or
twelve feet. It had a beautiful dry, soft, sandy floor, and--best of
all--there was a pool of deliciously cool, sweet water at the far end of
it--the first fresh water that we had found. And the air was as clean
and sweet as the water; no Zoological Gardens odour, or taint of rotting
bones, you understand. We took possession at once.

"Vividly remembering our experiences of the night before, our first
business was to go out again and collect enough dry stuff to make a fire
at the entrance to last all night. We next cut a sufficient quantity of
the long, dry grass to provide each of us with a comfortable bed, and we
completed our arrangements by cutting and conveying to the cave a bunch
of bananas big enough to furnish us with a supper that night and
breakfast the next morning. Then, having supped, we built and lighted
our fire, turned in, and slept soundly all night, notwithstanding that
even in our sleep we were conscious of a repetition of all the weird
sounds of the previous night.

"I suppose you will scarcely be anxious to hear the full details of
every adventure that befell us during our sojourn in that valley; and
indeed, if you did, I am afraid I could not relate them with much
pretence to accuracy. Adventures enough and to spare there were, of one
sort and another, but I seem to have got them all mixed up together, so
that I am unable to say just exactly when any one in particular
happened. The wild beasts did not very seriously trouble or interfere
with us during the day-time. But the snakes more than compensated for
this; they constituted a perfect terror! We grew so fearful of them at
last, especially after our boots gave out, that we scarcely dared to put
one foot before the other; indeed it was a snake that finally drove us
out of the valley."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

SVORENSSEN RELATES AN INTERESTING STORY.

"It was while we wer