Yes; the trees glide by very quickly."

"Ay, they do, sir," said the man, who did not take his eyes from the
surface of the river before them. "I did mean to make the boys pull so
that we could go down gently, but it wouldn't be much good, and only
toil 'em for nothing."

"There's no danger, I suppose, Shaddy?"

"No, sir, no, not much, unless we run on a sharp snag or trunk of a
tree, or get swept into a corner and capsized."

"What?" cried Rob.

"Capsized, sir. That would make an end of our expedition. Now, lads,"
he shouted to the men, "pull your best."

He gave his own oar a peculiar twist as the men obeyed, and Rob caught
sight of the danger ahead for the first time. It was a huge tree which
had been undermined by the water during the past few hours and fallen
right out into the stream, its top being over a hundred feet from the
shore and showing quite a dense tangle of branches level with the water,
to have entered which must have meant wreck.

But Shaddy was too much on the _qui vive_, and his timely order and
careful steering enabled him to float the craft gently by the outermost
boughs.

They were going onward again at increased speed, when Brazier shouted,--

"Stop! I must have some of those plants."

Shaddy did not stir.

"Do you hear, man? Stop! I want to collect some of those epiphytic
plants."

By this time they were nearly a hundred yards past, and Shaddy looked at
the enthusiastic collector with a comical expression on his face.

"Always glad to obey orders, sir," he said drily; "but how can I stop
the boat now? Look at the water."

"But you should have caught hold of one of the boughs, man."

"When we were fifty yards away, sir?"

"Then pull back to the tree."

Shaddy smiled again.

"It ain't to be done, sir, no, not if I'd eight oars going instead of
four. There's no making head against the river now it's running like
this."

"Then we've made a mistake in coming to-day," cried Brazier anxiously.

"Well, no, sir, because before night we shall have made a big run right
into the country you want to see, without tiring my lads, and I want to
save them up. But there's no stopping to-day for collecting."

"But shall we be able to land somewhere?"

"Hope so, sir. If we can't we shall have to go on. But you leave it to
me, sir, and I'll do my best. Don't talk to me now, because I've got to
steer and look out against an upset, and, as you know, bathing ain't
pleasant in