ue with a suggestion. During the march of
the previous day, this man, it appeared, had taken note of vast
quantities of a particular kind of reed growing some three or four miles
back, upon the opposite side of a canal-like watercourse, along the
margin of which the party had been travelling, and he was of opinion
that those reeds could be used in the construction of excellent
_balsas_, if they could only be got at. And he believed that it would
be possible to get at them if the white lords would permit him and two
or three of his comrades to go still further back to a point where, on
the near side of the canal, he had noted a sufficient growth of reeds to
construct a single _balsa_ of a capacity which would enable him to float
himself across the canal to the opposite side, where the reeds were
growing in profusion. The suggestion found immediate favour with the
"white lords," for it appeared to indicate the shortest way out of the
difficulty; and orders were at once given to carry it into effect.

But Earle made one important modification in Huanami's proposal. After
the experiences of the previous day--and, still more, of the past
night--he was not at all disposed to permit two or three unarmed men to
retrace their steps, unaccompanied, with the possibility that they might
be set upon and destroyed by some unknown monster inhabitant of the
swamp; he therefore gave orders for the entire party to countermarch,
and five minutes later they were under way.

Somewhere about an hour later they reached the spot where the rushes
grew on the opposite side of the canal; and it was at once apparent that
there was a sufficiency to meet the requirements of the party; while at
a further distance of about a mile they came to a bed containing enough
rashes to construct a _balsa_ capable of supporting a single man, or
possibly two men. Huanami cut one of the rushes for Earle's inspection,
and dividing it up into short lengths, showed that it was a bamboo-like
growth, hollow in structure and divided into a series of watertight
compartments by partitions occurring at every notch, rendering it
exceedingly light and buoyant. The average length of the rushes was
about twelve feet, but by a kind of interlacing system a raft, or
_balsa_, of almost any required dimensions could be constructed.

No time was lost by the party in getting to work upon the first _balsa_,
Huanami cutting great quantities of long, tough bents and plaiting them