osed to a casual meeting with the savage tribes
about us, who we knew always dwelt beneath the shadows of those trees
which supplied them with food.

We wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we passed, until
just as we had succeeded in mounting one of the many ridges that
intersected the ground, I saw in the grass before me something like an
indistinctly traced footpath, which appeared to lead along the top of the
ridge, and to descend with it into a deep ravine about half a mile in
advance of us.

Robinson Crusoe could not have been more startled at the footprint in the
sand than we were at this unwelcome discovery. My first impulse was to
make as rapid a retreat as possible, and bend our steps in some other
direction; but our curiosity to see whither this path might lead, prompted
us to pursue it. So on we went, the track becoming more and more visible
the farther we proceeded, until it conducted us to the verge of the
ravine, where it abruptly terminated.

"And so," said Toby, peering down into the chasm, "every one that travels
this path takes a jump here, eh?"

"Not so," said I, "for I think they might manage to descend without it;
what say you,--shall we attempt the feat?"

"And what, in the name of caves and coal-holes, do you expect to find at
the bottom of that gulf but a broken neck--why, it looks blacker than our
ship's hold, and the roar of those waterfalls down there would batter
one's brains to pieces."

"Oh, no, Toby," I exclaimed, laughing; "but there's something to be seen
here, that's plain, or there would have been no path, and I am resolved to
find out what it is."

"I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow," rejoined Toby, quickly, "if
you are going to pry into everything you meet with here that excites your
curiosity, you will marvellously soon get knocked on the head; to a dead
certainty you will come bang upon a party of these savages in the midst of
your discovery-makings, and I doubt whether such an event would
particularly delight you. Just take my advice for once, and let us 'bout
ship and steer in some other direction; besides, it's getting late, and we
ought to be mooring ourselves for the night."

"That is just the thing I have been driving at," replied I; "and I am
thinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose, for it is
roomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from the weather."

"Ay, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us so