the mouth of which there is a French settlement. I remember
that three days before the frigate captured the pirate we sighted Cape
Lopez, some way to the south of which I calculate we now are, in what I
think is called the Pongo country."

"I believe you are right, sir," said Tom. "We shall have to make a
pretty long march though, I suspect; but if we can manage to keep near
the coast, we may sight a ship, and by making signals, get her to send a
boat on shore to take us off; always provided there happens to be no
great amount of surf."

"Well then, friends, if you are all rested, we will commence our march,"
said Charley. "We will first, however, try to overtake the blacks, who,
as Mr Tubbs observes, have been led by their instinct, or rather their
knowledge of the country, in the direction where water is to be found;
and I daresay you all feel as I do--very thirsty."

"That I do, sir," said Tom. "I feel for all the world as if my mouth
was a dust-hole, and that a bucketful of hot cinders had been thrown
into it."

We confessed that our sensations were very similar to those Tom
described. We accordingly all got up and shouldered our packs, for
neither Harry nor I would allow Aboh to carry our any longer; not that
we thought he would attempt to run away with them. We told him,
however, when we camped in the evening, that we would divide them, so as
to give him a separate package, and thus we should all have an equal
load to carry. Aboh pointed out the direction in which, from the
appearance of the trees, he believed we should find water, and eagerly
led the way.

It was farther inland than we had intended to go, but from his
description we made out that there was a lake or pond fed by a stream
coming down from the mountains of the interior, and which afterwards
lost itself in the sand. We had gone some distance when Aboh made a
sign for us to note that the ground had been trampled down by many feet,
and that the people who had passed that way had broken off a number of
young saplings, probably to form spears, and had also torn down the
boughs to serve as other weapons of offence or defence. After going a
short distance farther, the sound of voices reached our ears. Aboh
shook his head. "No good, no good," he muttered, and made us understand
that we must advance cautiously.

Presently he again stopped, and advised us by signs to conceal
ourselves. He then crept forward, crouching down beneath the bushe