s with
which to swim. We placed on it all our small bundles, which we had
hitherto either towed or pushed before us; and again we asked our father
if he would not allow us to build a smaller raft for himself.

"No," he replied. "But I will accompany Marian, and it will afford me
rest should I grow tired."

While we had been employed in forming the raft, Kallolo and Maco had
made an excursion into the forest to try and ascertain the whereabouts
of the natives we had passed, and whether, from their appearance, they
were likely to prove friendly or otherwise. This they could tell, they
said, from their style of dress and their hair, from the marks on their
bodies, and, above all, from their weapons. If they proved to be a
friendly tribe, our friends intended to borrow a canoe, in which we
might perform the remainder of our voyage in comparative comfort and
safety. If the Indians were likely to be badly-disposed, they would
steal away without communicating with them; and they assured us, from
the precautions they would take, that there was no fear of our being
discovered.

They had been gone for some time, and the raft was nearly ready, when,
as we were looking up the stream, we caught sight of a person swimming
down the centre, towards us. We watched him, wondering who he could be.
As he drew near, we recognised the woolly head and black face of Sambo.
He had not seen us, nor did he when he was close under the bough. The
raft, however, which was floating beneath, seemed to astonish him. He
swam up to examine it. A hearty laugh, in which Arthur and I indulged,
at the look of astonishment in his countenance, was the first intimation
he had of our being close to him.

"Oh, Massa Guy! where have you been all this time?" he exclaimed, as I
lent him a hand to get up on the bough.

"Hid away among the branches of this tree," I answered. "And pray,
where have you come from?"

"Well, Massa Guy, I wait some time; at last I think that the young lady
and you and your father get tired with the long swim, so I thought I
might as well bring the raft down the channel as far as I could tow it;
but it stuck in the roots of a big tree which stretched nearly across
the water, and so, as I could not by myself get it past them, I jumped
overboard, and swam along to tell you. If you all come along, some can
rest on it, and others can swim alongside, and we then go much faster
than we can by swimming."

My father and Uncle Pau