ould carry it on as well as he could; so the next day she took
his place, while he accompanied the doctor on a shooting expedition.
Nub was to attend them. Each carried a bow, with a quiver full of
arrows, and a long spear. They were neither of them as yet very expert
marksmen. The doctor was the best, while Walter was improving. Dan
always declared that his bow had a twist in it, and shot crooked; but he
was more successful than any of the party in catching birds in other
ways.

They had been waiting for Nub, who had gone out early in the morning;
but just as they were starting, they met him coming back with a couple
of hornbills, which had taken refuge in the hole occupied by the birds
before captured.

"I thought oders would come," he observed, holding them up; "and I got
one egg, too, which do nicely for Missie Alice's breakfast."

The doctor told him to take the birds home, and then to follow them.
They several times caught sight, as they went along, of some beautiful
birds of paradise, which, however, kept too high up in the trees to be
shot by arrows.

"We are out of luck this morning," said the doctor, when they had gone
some way without killing a bird.

"Don't you think that if we could make some bird-lime we might have a
better chance of catching the smaller birds?" asked Walter.

"No doubt about it, if we could get the ingredients, and a bait to
attract the birds," answered the doctor. "The idea is worth
considering. Keep your mind at work, my lad; you may be, at all events,
of great use in our present circumstances. I have known instances where
shipwrecked crews have starved when they might have supported their
lives, simply because they were too ignorant or too dull to exert
themselves and search diligently for food. An Australian savage will
live in the wilds where the white man will perish. But then the savage
knows the habits of all the living creatures in the neighbourhood, and
the roots and herbs, and indeed every vegetable substance which will
afford him nourishment. Had we more skill as marksmen, and did we know
the haunts of the animals frequenting these woods, I have no doubt that
we should have before this abundantly supplied ourselves with food of
all sorts. We are, however, improving, and I have no longer any anxiety
on the subject."

While the doctor was speaking, Walter had been intently looking towards
the branch of a large tree seven or eight feet above the ground.

"Oh,