he sat chattering away, loudly expressing his annoyance at
what had occurred. Maco made a dash on the half-roasted periecu, which
would otherwise have run a great risk of being overdone, and leaped
after us. Happily nothing of value was left behind, while our mast and
sail, being in the water, were also safe. There we were, floating about
round the log, which, from the fierce way the flames blazed up, would,
we feared, be soon burned to the water's edge. "This must not be!"
cried the skipper and Uncle Paul almost at the same time. "Pipe all
hands to extinguish the fire!" Suiting the action to the word, they
setting the example, we all, as we floated about on our lifebuoys, began
to throw water on the flames with our hands.

"Heave away, my lads! heave away, and put out the flames!" cried Uncle
Paul. Fortunately the fire had not got any real hold on the log, having
fed chiefly on the dry mass of parasitic plants which thickly covered
it, so that, by throwing water over it merely with the palms of our
hands, we managed in a short time to put it out. Maco, who was the
first to climb on to the deck, uttering a loud cry jumped off again
still more rapidly, it being as yet far too hot to make a comfortable
resting-place. We therefore continued for some time longer to throw up
the water to cool it.

At length we again ventured on board. It looked something like the
bottom of a coal barge in a rainy day; it was covered with saturated
cinders, which it took us a considerable time before we could sweep off
into the water. Quacko looked with much suspicion at the burned embers,
as if he thought they would blaze up again, and declined leaving
Kallolo's shoulders, where alone he considered himself secure. Having
put our craft right, we sat down to feast on the portion of the periecu
we had been cooking, and very satisfactory food it proved. We then
stepped our mast, and set up the rigging, so as to be ready to proceed
on our voyage as soon as the wind should again spring up. It came
sooner than we expected, but instead of blowing up the stream, it came
directly down, and both the skipper and Uncle Paul agreed that it was
likely to continue in the same quarter for several days.

We had now run somewhat short of provisions, and had made but
inconsiderable progress on our voyage of discovery. Uncle Paul
therefore proposed that we should go back to our friends, and wait till
the wind should again shift to its old quart