en, and above all the possession of clothes,
which, for comfort's sake, he had once more confined to a pair of old
trousers whose legs were cut off at mid-thigh, had begun to display his
conceit and superiority, in his own estimation, over the black bearers
by strutting along beside them, frowning and poking at them with his
spear. At last he went so far as to strike one fine tall fellow over
the shoulders, with the result that the New Guinea man threw down his
load, the others followed suit, and all made rapid preparations for a
fight.

Humble as he was with me, I must do Jimmy the credit of saying that he
did not turn tail, but threw himself into an attitude as if about to
hurl his spear; and blood would undoubtedly have been shed had I not
taken it upon myself to interfere, to the great satisfaction of our
bearers.

Order then was restored, the loads were resumed, and Jimmy, who did not
seem in the slightest degree abashed by being degraded before the men he
had ill-treated, strutted on, and the journey was continued, everyone on
the look-out for dangerous beast or savage man.

The doctor and I carried revolvers and double-barrelled guns, one barrel
being charged with ball. Jack Penny was delighted by being similarly
furnished; and in addition he asked for an axe, which he carried stuck
in his belt.

We were each provided with a similar weapon, ready to hand at times to
the blacks, who were always ready to set down their burdens and make
short work of the wild vines and growth that often impeded our path.

We had determined--I say we, for from the moment of starting the doctor
had begun to treat me as his equal in every sense, and consulted me on
every step we took; all of which was very pleasant and flattering to me;
but I often felt as if I would rather be dependent upon him--we had then
determined to strike into the country until we reached the banks of a
great river, whose course we meant to follow right up to the sources in
the mountains.

There were good reasons for this, as a moment's thought will show.

To begin with, we were in a land of no roads, and most of our journey
would be through dense forest, whereas there was likely to be a certain
amount of open country about the river banks.

Then we were always sure of a supply of water; game is always most
abundant, both birds and beasts, near a river, and, of course, there is
always a chance of getting fish; fruit might also be found, and what was