was seventy or eighty feet high, so that from the top you can get a
view pretty well over the place; if there is one of our chaps there he may
be lying tied up somewhere. Of course he might be in a hut, but it is much
more likely that they would have just chucked him down until they wanted
him. I think if you got on my shoulder you would be able to get hold of
that lowest branch where it bends down, and climb along it to the trunk;
after that the branches come pretty thick together."

"I think I could manage that easily enough."

"Well, then, here goes," the sailor said, and took up his post beneath
where the bough was lowest. "If you can't reach it from my shoulder, sir,
you step on my head. I can hold you easy enough. You keep the trunk as far
as possible between you and the village."

"The leaves are thick up high," Steve said, looking up at the tree;
"directly it gets above the level of these smaller trees it spreads its
branches out well."

"Now, jump upon my back, sir, and then climb upon my shoulders. You had
best take hold of my hands to steady yourself."

It was necessary, as the sailor had suggested, for Steve to stand upon his
supporter's head before he could get hold of a branch sufficiently strong
to bear his weight. As soon as he did so he drew himself up, and was soon
climbing the main trunk. The higher he got the more convinced was he that
he would not be observed by the natives, for the trees behind him formed a
background, and therefore he could not be seen against the sky. He kept,
however, as the sailor had told him, on the other side of the trunk, and
when he had gained the smaller branches at the top of the tree he looked
out through an opening in the foliage. The village seemed to lie almost at
his feet, and he could see every object on the ground. It was not long
before he perceived a figure lying full length in front of one of the
huts, close to the spot where the people were gathered. It was certainly
an European, and from the whiteness of the trousers he felt sure that it
was either the mate or Joyce. He counted the number of huts, and found
that the one beside which the figure was lying was the eighth in the line
facing the river. There were two lines of huts with a sort of street
between them. Behind the second row the rise on which the village was
situated fell rapidly away and the jungle grew almost up to the back of
the huts. Those in the second line stood somewhat further apart than t