,
they saw the white men step their mast, unfurl their sail, and go
scudding upstream against the current at a speed which taxed their
utmost energies to keep pace with. But the wind died away about noon,
and then nothing would satisfy the Indians but that they must take the
boat in tow, which they did, with the result that Dick and Stukely were
spared a long and hot afternoon's paddling. Moreover, not content with
this, when the time came for them to camp for the night, the friendly
Indians insisted on building a hut for Dick and Phil to pass the night
in, one half of the party undertaking this task while the other half
plunged into the woods, to return, some three-quarters of an hour later,
loaded with fruit and game of various descriptions, the choicest
portions of which they placed in the white men's hut.

The next day's journey was, in all essential particulars, the
counterpart of that which preceded it, except that about mid-afternoon
they arrived at the foot of the rapids, of the existence of which the
Indians had warned them. These rapids were very much more formidable
than those which they had first encountered, the channel being
considerably narrower and the current consequently far more rapid; also
the river bed was here full of enormous rocks and boulders, over and
between which the water rushed and leapt and boiled in a turmoil of fury
that no boat or canoe could possibly have faced. Furthermore, the
rapids were nearly a mile and a half in length, beyond which was about a
mile of comparatively quiet water, and then came a cataract of over a
hundred feet in perpendicular height, with another half-mile of rapids
beyond it, before the river once more widened out sufficiently to be
navigable. Had the two adventurers been alone they would certainly have
been compelled to abandon their boat at this spot; but the Indians made
light of the difficulty, beginning by building a hut for their white
friends, as on the day before, on a small open plateau near the foot of
the rapids, while half a dozen of their number explored the banks on
either side of the river in search of a practicable road, by means of
which the boat could be carried up past the rapids and the cataract to
the navigable water beyond. This they eventually discovered in time to
effect the portage before dark. Then, more fruit having been found, and
game taken on the way back, a great fire was kindled, and a farewell
feast was held in honour of t