soon lost count of time, as
we followed the windings and turns of the river, the beauty of the deep
ravines that struck into the valley, each with its little fall or
torrent, and the glimpses we kept getting of snow-tipped mountains,
keeping off the weariness we might have felt in some open monotonous
land.

Every now and then Quong settled down to wash the sands and gravel of
the little streams that came tumbling down from the heights; and I saw
that Gunson took a good deal of interest in his proceedings; but in
spite of Quong's patient endeavours his efforts were always barren, or
resulted in the discovery of some tiny speck, which was added to the
others in the phial so slowly that, as Gunson laughingly said, it seemed
likely to take a year to build up enough gold to make a sovereign.

"The gold is nearer the mountains if there is any, Gordon," he said to
me, "and it is impossible to search down here. We must go higher up
before I begin after Quong has left us, for I expect that as soon as we
get to a spot where he can wash out a scale or two with every pan of
sand, he will bid us good-bye."

But as the days went on that time did not arrive. The Chinaman did not
seem to think anything about pay for his services, but was delighted to
perform them for the sake of the protection of travelling with us, and a
share of the food we provided.

So far our journey had been glorious. There had been plenty of hard
work, forcing our way through bushes, climbing fallen trees, some so
rotten that they crumbled to dust with our weight, and threading our way
among rocks; but at every turn there was the grand river foaming and
rushing down toward the sea, and masses of black-green forest with pines
spiring up toward the sky. One morning as we toiled slowly on, it was
very evident that the river was narrowing, and the sides growing
steeper. We had often been at some height above it, but always on a
slope, where, with a little scheming, we could have got down to the
water; but now a sheer wall of rock rose up forty or fifty feet on
either side, and below it, looking black and deep, the river swirled and
eddied along.

There was hardly a vestige of a trail here, the ground being too stony
to leave any traces; but the great stream was our guide, and we climbed
and stumbled on, Quong in front bending down under his load, and always
patient, calm, and smiling, as if it was quite natural to him to be
doubled up under a big bundle