Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/477

 DRIFTING DOWN THE STREAM. 449. shall find that the Portuguese authorîtîes wîU lend us their protection, and when old Alvez arrives to claim his 100,000 dollars—" " He shall receive a good thrashing for hîs pains," saîd Hercules, finishing Dick's sentence, and chuckling heartily at the prospect. It was agreed on ail hands that it was most important that Negoro's arrivai at Mossamedes should be forcstalled. The plan which Dick had so long contemplated of reaching the coast by descending some river seemed now in a fair way of being accomplished, and from the northerly direc- tion in which they were proceeding it was quite probable that they would ultimately reach the Zaire, and in that case not actually arrive at S. Paul de Loanda ; but that would be îmmaterial, as they would be sure of finding help anywhere in the colonies of Lower Guinea. On finding hîmself on the river-bank, Dick*s first thought had been to embark upon one of the floating îslands that are continually to be seen upon the surface of the African streams, but it happened that Hercules during one of his rambles found a native boat that had run adrift. It was just the discovery that suited their need. It was one of the long, narrow canoës, thirty fect in length by three or four in breadth, that with a large numbcr of paddlcs can be driven with immense velocity, but by the aid of a single seuil can be safely guidcd down the current of a stream. Dick was somewhat afraîd that, to élude observation, it would be necessary to proceed only by night, but as the loss of twelve hours out of the twenty-four would double the length of the voyage, he dcvised the plan of covering the canoë with a roof of long grass, supported by a horizontal pôle from stem to stem, and this not only aflforded a shelter from the sun, but so effectually concealed the craft, rudder-scull and ail, that the very birds mîstook it for one of the natural islets, and red-beaked gulls, black arringhas and grey and white kingfishers would frequently alight upon it in search of food. Though comparatîvely free from fatigue, the voyage G g