"Speak to him, and he will do whatever you tell him," said Mr Hooker;
and so Merlin was added to our party.

We promised the Frau that should the difficulties we might meet with be
too great for the girls to encounter, we would at once return, and
leaving them, set off again by ourselves. We each of us earned a
fowling-piece, an axe, and a knife, with flint and steel, and a bag of
sago-cake, prepared as have before described. We felt very sure that we
could provide ourselves with an ample supply of animal food, as also
vegetables, wherever we might go. Nature has been lavishly bountiful in
that region in her supply of food for the wants of man; indeed, there
are no parts of the world where a little labour will produce such an
abundance of all the necessaries of life as in most of the islands of
that archipelago.

Several streams ran down from the neighbouring mountains fertilising the
land, and, in the intervals, cocoa-nut trees grew, with fruit now
sufficiently ripe to afford a delicious draught of cool liquid whenever
we might want it.

We rose before daybreak to breakfast, that we might commence our journey
in the cool of the morning. Our friends collected in the verandah to
wish us good-bye. Mr Hooker, however, seemed very unhappy at being
unable to accompany us.

"Cheer up, friends," said our uncle. "We shall be back, probably, in
two or three days; and having stretched our legs, we shall be the better
able to make another excursion, and I hope by that time you will be of
the party."

My uncle led, axe in hand, to clear away any creepers or underwood which
might impede our progress. The girls, with Oliver and I on either hand,
followed, while the three men, with their guns ready for use, brought up
the rear. The views were, however, confined, in consequence of the
thickness of the forest and the somewhat level nature of the country;
but in the distance we could see mountains rising, with intervening
hills, which showed us that there was some climbing in prospect.
Nothing could exceed the beauty of the woods, or the great variety of
strange trees and plants which met our sight in every direction. Among
the most beautiful and curious were the orchids. One especially
arrested our attention. It had large yellow clusters of flowers hanging
down from some of the lower branches of the trees, so that it was more
than usually conspicuous. Our uncle called it the _Vanda Lowii_. Many
of its strange pende