stead of
following the channel, made its way through the forest to the next bend in
the river, and they had the greatest difficulty in preventing themselves
from being drawn in among the trees by the current. At such times they
were forced to launch the canoe overboard, to roll up the bottom of the
raft, and to lay the great bundle of rushes across the poles now supported
by the inflated skins. Only then by vigorous paddling, in which Stephen
bore his part, were they able to tow this behind them across the current
until they reached a point where the force of the stream was confined to
the regular channel. At one point, where the river was broader than usual
and the current in consequence slower, they crossed to the other bank.

"We are getting near the rapids now," Hurka said, "and this bank is the
least dangerous of the two. Hitherto we have had nothing but the force of
the stream to contend with, but now we shall have rocks. It is for this
that we constructed the raft. Up to now we should have done far better to
have come down in the canoe alone, but, once among the rocks, a touch
would break her up, while the raft can scrape against them without injury.
You will see that the aspect of things will change altogether; the banks
where the rapids are, are high and steep, and the inundations will cease
for a time. Once beyond the falls we shall again be in a flat country, and
the inundations will extend almost all the way down until we reach the
Amazon."

"There is no way of avoiding the rapids, I suppose?" Stephen asked.

"None but by getting out and carrying everything round. At the falls this
has to be done, there are no other means of passing them. In some respects
it is safer to go down the rapids now than it is in the dry season, for
the greater portion of the rocks are far below the surface, and we shall
pass over small falls without even noticing them."

The days as a rule passed pleasantly enough, save where the voyagers had
to work against cross currents, but at night, when they tied up to a tree,
the noise was prodigious. The howling and roaring of wild beasts was
incessant. Monkeys chattered in terror, and occasionally an almost human
scream proclaimed that one of them had been seized by a snake, or some
other enemy. The hissing of reptiles could at times be distinctly heard,
and Stephen often thought that he could hear their movements in the boughs
above him.

At length they approached the rapids, and the