was so thick that he was
entangled among it, and could not make his usual spring.

"I am sorely tempted to fire," exclaimed Mr Hooker.

"Do not till it is absolutely necessary," said my uncle.

The animal was moving slowly along, apparently trying to hide itself, as
a cat does when in search of its prey. Presently it caught sight of
several of our party with their formidable looking spears pointed
towards it. It seemed for once to consider discretion the better part
of valour, and an open space appearing on one side, we had the
satisfaction of seeing it creep more rapidly, and then bound away into
the distant part of the forest.

We had no other adventure of importance till we reached the foot of the
hill, up which we wound our way. At the steeper part, however, Oliver
and I, as well as the girls and the Frau, found it impossible to carry
our burdens. "Put them down, young people," said Dick Tarbox, "and we
will come back for them. You get up yourselves." At length we reached
the top, and piled our goods in the centre.

"The first thing to be done is to clear away some of this brushwood,"
said Mr Thudicumb. "Were it not that we might point out where we are
to the enemy, the quickest way would be by burning it."

However, the men with their axes soon cleared off a sufficient space on
which we might build our huts; and this done, they set to work cutting
down thick stakes to form our proposed palisade. At this Oliver and I,
as well as Mr Hooker and our uncle, worked away, the Frau, Emily, and
Grace carrying them up as we cut them, and placing them ready to be
driven into the ground. For some distance round the hill the rocks were
so precipitous, that we had no fear of being attacked on those sides.
We therefore first fortified the part where the slope was more gradual;
and we hoped that, should our ammunition last, we might be able to keep
a large number at bay. We continued working on in spite of fatigue, the
Frau and her assistants bringing us a draught of water, or a piece of
sago-cake to recruit our strength. Thus in a short time we had a
considerable number of stakes ready for use. Mr Thudicumb and the
other men now began driving them in, while the two gentlemen, with
Oliver and I, continued cutting more stakes.

By this time we were anxiously looking out for the appearance of Tanda.
Already some progress had been made with the fortifications, and Mr
Thudicumb expressed his opinion that even should