bringing up the rear.
Presently they heard a loud chattering overhead, and down came a shower
of nuts, one of which hit Billy on the nose. The pain made him cry out,
when his voice was replied to by shrieks of laughter from overhead,
followed by another volley. On looking up they caught sight of a large
troop of big monkeys scampering from bough to bough, some of them
descending as close as possible in order to get nearer the intruders of
their domain.

One old fellow spat right at Desmond, and when he saw that the shot had
been successful, shrieked and chuckled with laughter as he climbed back
to a more secure part of the bough. The monkeys on this, emboldened by
success and increased in numbers, discharged volleys of missiles of all
descriptions, some of a very disagreeable character, so that the three
midshipmen with their followers were fairly put to flight, the monkeys
pursuing them, chattering and shrieking until they made their escape
from the forest, which here fortunately came to a termination.

"I'll pay you off for this!" cried Desmond, who had been a sufferer with
Billy, and, firing, he brought down one of the monkeys, on which the
rest set up the most fearful cries, shaking their fists and making all
sorts of defiant grimaces.

They now entered on a region totally different to any they had hitherto
passed through. It was a vast open prairie, covered in many places with
long grass, amid which snakes of large size were seen creeping, but Nick
assured Tom that they were not venomous, and would afford a meal at any
time, should game not be abundant. The difficulty of walking over this
grass was considerable, as they had to lift their feet high at every
step, while they were exposed to the rays of the sun. Having hitherto
obtained as much water as they required, it did not occur to them that
they might fail to procure it. They caught sight of herds of buffalo
and deer, but none during the day came near enough to be shot. All day
they trudged on without water, and were well nigh ready to drop from
thirst.

"I shall die if I don't get something to drink," cried poor Billy.

Tom got Casey and Peter to lift him up on their shoulders that he might
obtain thereby a wider view, but nowhere was a stream or lake to be
seen. He, however, caught sight of several round yellow objects on the
ground, and on getting nearer, great was the joy of the party to
discover that they were melons, the produce of a creepe