skipper and Smellie sought solace and refreshment in a cigar. As for
me, not having at that time contracted the habit of smoking, I was
contented to sit still and gaze with admiring eyes upon the weird beauty
of my surroundings.

For perhaps a quarter of an hour my companions gave themselves up to the
silent enjoyment of their cigars, but at the end of that time the
skipper, turning to Smellie, said:

"I think this must be the creek to which we have been directed; but
there are so many of these inlets, creeks, and canals on this side of
the river--and on the other side also for that matter--that one cannot
be at all certain about it. I would have explored the place thoroughly
in the gig, and so have saved the labour of all this scrambling through
the bush, but for the fact that if we are right, and any slave-craft
happen to be lurking here--as our Yankee friend's suspicious conduct
leads me to believe may be the case--there would be a great risk of our
stumbling upon them unawares, and so giving them the alarm. And even if
we escaped that mischance I have no doubt but that they keep sentinels
posted here and there on the look-out, and we could hardly hope that the
boat would escape being sighted by one or other of them. If there _are_
any craft hereabout, we may rest assured that they are fully aware of
the presence of the _Daphne_ in the river; but I am in hopes that our
_ruse_ of openly starting as upon a sporting expedition has thrown dust
in their eyes for once, and that we may be able to steal near enough to
get a sight of them without exciting their suspicions."

"It would be worth all our trouble if we _amid_ do so," responded
Smellie. "But I don't half like this blind groping about in the bush;
to say nothing of the tremendously hard work which it involves there is
a very good chance, it seems to me, of our losing ourselves when we
attempt to make our way back. And then, again, we are quite uncertain
how much further we may have to go in order to complete our search
satisfactorily. Do you not think it would be a good plan for one of us
to shin up a tree and take a look round before we go any further? There
are some fine tall trees here close at hand, from the higher branches of
which one ought to be able to get a pretty extensive view."

"A very capital idea!" assented the skipper. "We will act upon it at
once. There, now," pointing to a perfect forest giant only a few yards
distant, "is a tree ad