might obtain
the sleep we so greatly needed.

Fortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the one in
which we had passed the last wretched night. We cleared away the tall
reeds from a small but almost level bit of ground, and twisted them into a
low basket-like hut, which we covered with a profusion of long thick
leaves, gathered from a tree near at hand. We disposed them thickly all
around, reserving only a slight opening that barely permitted us to crawl
under the shelter we had thus obtained.

These deep recesses, though protected from the winds that assail the
summits of their lofty sides, are damp and chill to a degree that one
would hardly anticipate in such a climate; and being unprovided with
anything but our woollen frocks and thin duck trousers to resist the cold
of the place, we were the more solicitous to render our habitation for the
night as comfortable as we could. Accordingly, in addition to what we had
already done, we plucked down all the leaves within our reach and threw
them in a heap over our little hut, into which we now crept, raking after
us a reserved supply to form our couch.

That night nothing but the pain I suffered prevented me from sleeping most
refreshingly. As it was, I caught two or three naps, while Toby slept away
at my side as soundly as though he had been sandwiched between two Holland
sheets. Luckily it did not rain, and we were preserved from the misery
which a heavy shower would have occasioned us.

In the morning I was awakened by the sonorous voice of my companion
ringing in my ears and bidding me rise. I crawled out from our heap of
leaves, and was astonished at the change which a good night's rest had
wrought in his appearance. He was as blithe and joyous as a young bird,
and was staying the keenness of his morning's appetite by chewing the soft
bark of a delicate branch he held in his hand, and he recommended the like
to me, as an admirable antidote against the gnawings of hunger.

For my own part, though feeling materially better than I had done the
preceding evening, I could not look at the limb that had pained me so
violently at intervals during the last twenty-four hours, without
experiencing a sense of alarm that I strove in vain to shake off.
Unwilling to disturb the flow of my comrade's spirits, I managed to stifle
the complaints to which I might otherwise have given vent, and calling
upon him good-humouredly to speed our banquet, I prepared myself