eligible
spot for camping on and building a vessel, you could send back for us,
and we would then construct one or more rafts for the voyage. The
dangers of the expedition are too great for Marian and her father to
encounter, unless with a definite object in view."

"Well, well," answered the captain, "I trust that we shall meet again
ere long. Now, my friends, we must go on board, and shove off."

When this was said we were seated at supper. As soon as it was over,
the various articles which the skipper intended to take with him were
placed on board the raft. Shaking us all by the hand, he and his crew
stepped on to it, each armed with a long pole, which assisted to steady
them and at the same time to push on the raft. We did not cheer, as we
might have done under other circumstances, for fear that our voices
should reach the Indians, at no great distance, so in perfect silence
our friends shoved off into the middle of the stream. Darkness having
come on, they were speedily lost to sight.

I had from the first contemplated the possibility of making an excursion
through the forest, in order to ascertain, if possible, the exact
position of the Indian encampment. There could be little doubt that it
was constructed as ours had been at the grove on the Orinoco,--high up
on the branches of some enormous tree, or on a platform supported by the
stems of several trees; which is the way, Kallolo told me, the Indians
inhabiting the region nearer the mouth of the river form their
habitations. Arthur and I had been talking the matter over, and we
proposed it to Kallolo. He said that he was quite ready to go alone,
but that if we wished to accompany him he should have no objection.
Could we have secured a band of elaters to go before us, we might,
without difficulty, have found our way; but as neither they nor the
fireflies could be depended on, we should have to make the expedition in
darkness. There was, however, a bright moon in the sky, which, provided
we kept along the edge of the river, would give us sufficient light.
The only creatures we had to fear were the anacondas; but Kallolo
averred that they were not often found in narrow streams, and that the
alligators always forsook the flooded region and went further up the
country, where they could find sunny banks to bask on during the day,
and a more ample supply of food. We mentioned our wishes to Uncle Paul
and my father. They at first objected, but on Kallolo's