p
and down the channel, or to peer into the forest. While he was on the
watch, I was sure that we should have timely warning of danger. At
length his figure seemed to extend into gigantic proportions, and then
grew more and more indistinct, till my eyes closed.

Arthur at last awoke me. He had had his watch, and it was now time for
me to take mine; but he warned me to be careful not to slip off the
trunk, as he had nearly done, he said. I got up and took the pole he
gave me. At one end was a sharp point, which would serve to give an
effectual thrust to any wild beast, or to a human savage who might
attack us. There was not much probability of our being assailed either
by a jaguar or a puma, as these creatures were not likely to make their
way across the water intervening between us and the dry land; but we
were not safe from the stealthy approach of an anaconda, though we had
seen no signs of such a creature since we had left the broad river. I
could not, however, get out of my head the recollection of the monster
which had attacked us; and very often, as I looked up and down the
channel, I fancied that I saw one of the creatures swimming towards us,
with its head above the surface. Greatly to my relief, on each occasion
the object I had caught sight of resolved itself into the partly
submerged root or branch of a tree.

Very thankful I felt when at last the streaks of early dawn appeared in
the eastern sky, and the noises of animated nature again burst on my
ear. Parrots and macaws, and numberless other birds, began to utter
their varied notes, and the sounds I have before described echoed
through the forest. I called up my companions, and, without a moment's
delay, all hands set to work to put together the raft for which we had
collected part of the materials the previous evening. More were
required; and while the Indians and Tim went into the forest to cut or
break down the palms, Uncle Paul, assisted by Sambo, bound them
together. Arthur and I employed ourselves in dragging the logs up to
them, and in cutting the lianas or sepos, which my father and Marian
unwound and prepared for use as cordage. The task was a far more
difficult one than it would have been had we possessed axes. Our knives
served only to cut off the smaller boughs, and slightly to trim the logs
or cut the lianas.

We worked away with so much energy, that by eight o'clock, as far as we
could judge from the sun, we had put a raft tog