ere in the morning, and buy
a couple of spears and shields, and get some more rice and other
things. We have plenty of ammunition for our guns; which we may
want, if we meet any wild beasts."

"You don't think that there will be any danger in your going in
there, Meinik? Of course, there is no absolute occasion for us to
have spears and shields, as we have guns."

"We ought to have shields," Meinik replied, "and it were better to
have spears too, and also for us to carry axes--everyone carries an
axe in war time, for we always erect stockades and, though a very
poor man may only have his knife, everyone who can afford it takes
an axe. Most people have such a thing, for it is wanted for cutting
firewood, for clearing the ground, for building houses, and for
many other things; and a Burman must be poor, indeed, who does not
own one."

"By all means, then, get them for us, Meinik; besides, we may find
them useful for ourselves."

They now lay down and slept until evening; and then started up the
river again, keeping close in under shadow of the bank and, two
hours before daylight, concealed the canoe as usual, at a spot two
miles above Sarawa. Meinik started at daybreak, and returned three
hours later with two axes, spears, and shields.

That night they turned into the river running to the east and, for
four nights, paddled up it. The country was now assuming a
different character, and the stream was running in a valley with
rising ground--from a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet high--on
each side, and was narrowing very fast. Towards morning on the
fifth day the river had become a small stream, of but two or three
feet deep; and they decided to leave the boat, as it was evident
that they would be able to go but a short distance further.

"We may as well hide her carefully," Stanley said. "It is certainly
not likely that we shall want her again, but there is never any
saying and, at any rate, there is no great trouble in doing it."

They cooked a meal and then started at once, so as to do a few
hours' walking before the sun became high. They determined to keep
on eastward, until they reached the highest point of the dividing
ridge between the two main rivers, and then to follow it southward.
The country was now well cultivated, and they had some trouble in
avoiding the small villages dotted thickly about, as the course
they were following was not the one they would take if making
straight to join the army. The