ly make out whether or not he was
willing to go; and as we could not start for a couple of days, Mudge
offered to go up the river as far as it was navigable in the boat, with
Doyle and Harry and me, and one of the other men, and to take him with
us. We should thus be better able to judge whether he understood what
we wished him to do.

There was no risk, in the meantime, of the natives leaving their feast;
and the wind fortunately now blowing from us towards the whale, we were
no longer annoyed by the disagreeable odour. One thing was certain,--
that the boat could not carry us all, with our provisions and stores,
and that we should, at all events, have to make two or three trips. My
father, therefore, thought that the sooner we set off the better. We
accordingly put on board the boat a supply of provisions, ammunition,
and some other articles, which we intended storing near the
landing-place at the head of the river. We also took with us such tools
as we should require to build a hut. These arrangements being made, we
wished our friends good-bye, and pulled away up the river.

The scenery, as we advanced, became highly picturesque, and in some
places the banks on either side were fringed with trees; in others,
perpendicular cliffs rose sheer out of the water to a considerable
height; while numerous points projected into the stream, some rocky,
others covered with the richest vegetation.

We had been curious to know how Pullingo and his family had crossed the
river; but we had not got far when we caught sight of a very
rough-looking canoe hauled up on the bank. We pulled in to examine it,
and found that it consisted of a single large sheet of bark bent up, the
ends roughly sewed together, lumps of clay being stuffed in to prevent
the water from entering, while the centre part was kept open by several
pieces of stick fixed across the upper edge. Such a canoe could not
take many minutes to form; and we agreed that it would be well to copy
the natives when we had rivers to cross, and to form similar canoes, as
they would be more quickly constructed, and could be guided with less
difficulty, than a raft. Pullingo made us understand that this was his
canoe, but that he would leave it where it was for the use of his wife
and family.

As the tide had just begun to flow when we started, we made rapid
progress. We saw numerous birds, ducks and geese, which skimmed over
the surface, seeking for their prey, or flew o