had cooked in the morning. After resting they again
pushed on, but their progress was not more rapid than at first. Towards
evening Tom, in hopes of getting a sight of the ocean, climbed a tree
taller than most of its fellows. Having his spy-glass, he could see to
a great distance.

"How far off is it?" inquired Desmond, when Tom came down.

"Shall we get there to-night?" asked Billy.

"Not for a week if we do not make better way than we have done this
morning," answered Tom. "I could make out the sea in the distance, and
I fancied some huts and plantations between us and the shore. We must
try to pass by them without being discovered by the inhabitants."

The heat had been excessive, and the midshipmen were glad to rest until
the following morning. During the night it was utterly impossible to
make their way through the wood. As no huts had been seen near, they
ventured to light a fire, watching carefully that it should not spread,
when, as Billy observed, their provisions would have been very much
overdone.

After camping, the first thing they had to do was to look out for food.
The parrots, for some reason or other, were rather shy, but a troop of
inquisitive monkeys came near to ascertain what the strangers were
about.

Pipes, who accompanied Tom, urged him to shoot.

"Him very good, very good," he said.

Tom had of course heard that the creatures were eaten, although he had
never tasted monkey. He accordingly fired, and brought down two who
were sitting together grinning at him. The rest on this came chattering
and screeching to the boughs close above his head, and began to throw
down sticks and nuts, some of the latter of which they had been eating,
and to spit at him in the most furious fashion.

"Kill more, kill more!" cried Pipes.

Tom again fired, and two others fell to the ground, when the remainder
ran shrieking away through the forest. Pipes, taking possession of the
game, marched back to the camp with a well-satisfied air.

"You do not mean to say we are to feed on these creatures?" exclaimed
Desmond.

"I can't shoot anything else, and better eat them than starve," answered
Tom.

"Ah! let's try them," cried Billy. "Anything better than an empty
stomach."

By the time the monkeys had been cooked the appetites of all the party
had considerably increased. Although the midshipmen made some wry faces
at first, after a few mouthfuls they went on eating monkey as if they
had been ac