ur riflemen can
see the eyes of the enemy," added the agent. "I must bid you good-by
now, for I have business on shore here. I don't think the crocodiles
will come any nearer to you, but be prudent. I shall hope to see you at
Simujan on your return."

Mr. Eng shook hands with all the cabin party, and went ashore. The
captain gave the order to cast off the fasts, and Lane was ordered to
take the wheel. The two sampans had before made fast to the shore; and
as the Blanchita got under way, one of them put off, and paddled towards
the crocodiles. The last that was seen of the craft, it had a saurian
hooked after the Malay mode of fishing for them.

After breakfast had been served in the cabin, and the party had gone to
their seats forward, the character of the river began to change,
becoming much narrower. They came to another Dyak village, where the
jungle was cleared off and paddies were near the stream. It looked as
though all the inhabitants had gathered on the bank, male and female. A
long-house was to be seen on a knoll, and the wheelman was ordered to
take the boat within a couple of rods of the shore.

"Are you going to make a landing at this village, Captain Scott?" asked
Louis.

"No; we have seen enough of these people, but we will see what we can as
we pass along. They are all beckoning us to go ashore; but we won't do
so, for any more Dyak maidens would be rather monotonous."

"I quite agree with you, Captain, though there is one with a big stick
of bamboo in her hand, who looks more graceful and pretty than any we
saw in the village we visited," replied Louis.

"I wonder what that cane is for," added Scott.

"That's to contain some kind of liquid; and she may have four feet of
tuak in it," answered the millionaire, laughing at the idea of measuring
a fluid by Long Measure. "I think the girl comes nearer to being a
beauty than any girl I have seen before."

"She is hooped with brass like all the rest of them," added Scott, as
the boat proceeded beyond the group on the shore.

In another half-hour great trees, with an abundant undergrowth of
bushes, extended down to the river, and in places some distance into the
water.

CHAPTER XI

STEAMBOATING THROUGH A GREAT FOREST

Although there was a wall of green on each side of the boat, and the
river was not more than sixty feet wide, the explorers found that
everything close to the earth was under water. If the dense jungle had
not prevented, the