started off in a line parallel to the canyon, as it seemed to Bart,
and made for a patch of good-sized trees about half a mile from the
mountain, and upon reaching this they found that the great river chasm
had curved round, so that it was not above a hundred yards away, and
Bart began to think that perhaps it would not prove to be so precipitous
there.

The Beaver, seeing his eagerness, smiled and nodded, and thrusting the
bushes aside, he entered the patch of dense forest, which was apparently
about half a mile in length, running with a breadth of half that
distance along the edge of the canyon.

The interpreter followed, and after a few minutes they returned to say
that no progress could be made in that direction, so they re-entered the
forest some fifty yards lower, and where it looked less promising than
before.

The chief, however, seemed to be satisfied, and drawing his knife, he
hacked and chopped at the projecting vines and thorns so as to clear a
way for those who followed; till after winding in and out for some time,
he came at length to what seemed little more than a crack in the ground
about a yard wide, and pretty well choked up with various kinds of
growth.

At the first glance it seemed impossible for any one to descend into
this rift, but the interpreter showed them that it was possible by
leaping down, and directly after there was a loud, rattling noise, and
an extremely large rattlesnake glided out of the rift on to the level
ground. It was making its escape, when a sharp blow from the chief's
knife divided it nearly in two, and he finished his task by crushing its
head with the butt of his rifle.

"We must be on the look-out, Bart," said the Doctor, "if these reptiles
are in any quantity;" and as the Beaver leaped down he followed, then
came Bart, and Joses closed up the rear.

"I shall get all the sarpents," he grumbled. "You people will disturb
them all, and they'll do their stinging upon me."

Then the descent became so toilsome that conversation ceased, and
nothing was heard but the crackling of twigs, the breaking off of
branches, and the sharp, rustling noise that followed as the travellers
forced their way through the bushes.

This lasted for about fifty yards, and then the descent became very
rapid, and the trees larger and less crowded together. The rift
widened, too, at times, but only to contract again; and then its sides
so nearly approached that their path became terribly o