hat they must go and find their people," he said,
"and that they must build a house for you on the spot you selected.
They will be true friends to you, as they have ever been to me. I
advise you to cultivate their friendship by treating them with kindness
and respect."

The young Indians seemed very unwilling to take their departure, and
lingered some time after we had wished them good-bye. John and I took
up the litter, on which Arthur had been placed. As we had already cut a
road for ourselves, we were able to proceed faster than we did when
before passing through the forest. We hurried on, for the sun had begun
to sink towards the west, and we might be benighted before we could
reach the hermit's abode.

We proceeded by the way we had come. After we had gone some distance,
Arthur begged that he might be put down and allowed to walk. "I am sure
I have strength enough, and I do not like to see you carry me," he said.
Of this, however, we would not hear, and continued on.

At last we sat down to rest. The spot we had chosen was a pleasant one.
Though shaded, it was sufficiently open to allow the breeze to
circulate through it. Round us, in most directions, was a thick jungle.
We had brought some water in a shell of one of the large nuts, and
after Arthur had drunk some, we induced him to take a little food, which
seemed greatly to revive him. We were seated round the contents of our
wallets, John and I, at all events, feeling in much better spirits than
we had been in the morning; even the recluse threw off some of his
reserve. We took the opportunity of telling him of our anxiety about
our parents, and of the uncertainty we felt whether they had passed down
the river. He in return asked us further questions, and seemed
interested in our account.

"I may be of use to you," he said at length, "by being able to make
inquiries among the Indians on the river, who would probably have
observed them should they have passed; but promises are so often broken,
that I am ever unwilling to make them. Therefore, I advise you to trust
to your own exertions," he added.

We were on the point of again taking up Arthur to proceed, when a loud
sound of crashing branches was heard in the distance. It seemed as if a
hurricane was sweeping through the forest. It came nearer and nearer.

"Oh I what can it be?" cried Arthur. "Leave me and save yourselves. It
seems as if the whole forest was falling."

The crashing incre