n to attack us in numbers, only ten altogether
having belonged to the body assailing us, we too took to our heels in
the opposite direction. This was the very one, indeed, in which our
proper course lay; and we ran on without giving a thought as to whether
any of those we had knocked on the head would come to life again or not,
or that we had to answer for their deaths.

"It would weary you to hear all the further trials we had to go through.
We had three other rivers to ford before reaching the base of the next
mountain; and, on essaying to climb this latter, we found it so steep
and matted with rank vegetation that it was impossible to ascend it.
Besides, the mosquitoes stung us almost to pieces on our going into the
forest here; and, seeing that our route southwards was impracticable any
longer, we bent our steps due west, following the track of the last
river we had crossed so as to gain the beach again, which latter course
seemed to offer now the best chance of escape.

"Arrived here, we sat down facing the sea, without a single sail passing
by within hail, as we had hoped would soon have been the case, for two
long weary days and nights--one of us always keeping watch that we
should not miss a vessel, in the first place, and, secondly, for fear of
another attack from the natives. During all this time, recollect, we
had nothing to eat since we swallowed the last fragment of the solitary
parrot that poor Denis Brown had knocked down, although plenty of
brackish water was at our disposal from the river.

"On the third morning, however, just when we were pretty nigh done up
with the heat and hunger, thinking each moment would be our last, an
Arab dhow passed by close inshore to where we were stretched almost
lifeless on the sand, watching the monotonous sea that broke with a
heavy wash on the beach.

"We hailed the people on board, but they took no notice of us, and we
abandoned ourselves to despair. However, another trading dhow came by
soon afterwards, luckily for us, and the skipper of this showed more
sympathy to shipwrecked seamen in distress, for, responding to our
appeals for help, he said he would lie to for us, but as he had no boat
we would have to swim off to the vessel.

"This we did, braving our fear of the sharks, though we had seen plenty
of them about during the two days we had been staring at the sea; and,
plunging into the waves, were soon hauled aboard in safety, the
revulsion of feeling at