ame to him better
than for them to coast along till they came abreast of some village,
though he felt very little hope of meeting with such good fortune upon
that sparsely inhabited shore. Further north there were towns and
villages, but these were hundreds of miles away.

There was a possibility of their finding a native village, the home of
some black chief, if they proceeded up the river; but it was chance
work, and, unless compelled, Mark shrank from leaving the coast and
cutting himself off from the chance of being seen by the _Nautilus_ if
she came back in search of them. So he decided to keep along the shore.

And now he blamed himself bitterly for his ignorance. For if he had
devoted a little time to studying the charts, he might have had a fair
knowledge of the coast, and the chance of finding some trading
settlement north or south; while now, as he told himself, here he was in
command of a boat, and, boy as he was, answerable to his superior
officer for the lives of the men. Accident had placed him in his
present position, but then officers had, as he knew, to be prepared for
such emergencies, and he was not ready in the slightest degree.

He made a vow to make up for lost time if the opportunity occurred
again, and began once more to examine Mr Russell's state.

The insensibility continued still, and the faint hope he had nursed of
the lieutenant recovering sufficiently to relieve him of his
responsibility died away, so he landed with Fillot and began to look
about him.

The place he had selected at the river's mouth, for the sake of the
shade and water, was hidden from any vessel passing, but it was so
suited for their purpose that he felt it would be unwise to change it,
as they could row out if a vessel hove in sight, and a good watch would
be kept. Anything was better than exposing the men to the broiling sun,
weak as they were with their injuries, and he felt that such a course
would be fatal to Mr Russell, so he determined to stay, at all events
till the heat of the day had passed, and then make the men row steadily
north.

He had just come to this conclusion, when he caught sight of Tom
Fillot's occupation, which was the unravelling of the boat's painter.

"What's that for, Fillot?" he asked, sharply.

"Well, sir, I couldn't see no fruit trees nor no fields o' corn ashore,
so I thought the best thing to do would be to have a try at ketching a
fish."

CHAPTER TWENTY.

WHAT MARK SAI