Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/496

 Grillcd ovcr a slow fire, thcy ivcre found to be very p.ilatable eating, and, spite of his qualms of conscience, Bcncdict himsclf madc a hearty mcal. liut although the grawings of absolute hunger were thus a^suagcd, ail thc travcllcrs bcgan to long most anxiously for thc voyage to corne to an end. The mode of transît itidc'cd might bc less cxhausting to the bodily powers than a land march would liavc becn, but thc excessive heat by day, the damp mists at night, and the incessant attaclcs of mosquitoes, ali combined to rendcr the passage extremely trj'ing. Therc was no telling how long it would last, and Dick was cqually unccrtain whether it might end in a few days, or be protracted for a month. Thc direction which the strcam was taking was itscif a subject of perplexity. A frcsh surprise was now in store. Ai Jack, a fcw niornin;:;s afterwards, was standing at the bow peering through an aperture in the grass canopy above him, he suddenly turned round and cried, — " Thc sca ! thesea ! " Dick started forwards, and lookcd cagerly in the same direction. A large expanse ofwater was visible in the horizon, but aftcr having surveyed it for a moment or two, lie said, — " No, Jack, it is not the sea, it is a great river ; it is running wcst, and I suppose this river runs into it. Perhaps it is thc Zaïre." " Let us hope it is," said Mrs. Weldon earnestly. Most cordially did Dick Sands re-echo her words, being wcU awarc that at the mouth of that river wcre Portuguese villages, where a refuge might assuredly be found. For scveral succceding days the canoë, still concealcd by its covering, floated on the silvery surface of this new-found strcam. On cither side thc banks became less arid, and therc seemed everything to encourage the fcw survîvors of thc " Pjlgrim " to bclicve that they would soon sec the last of the périls and toils of their journey. They were too sanguine. Towards three o'clock on the morning of the i8th, Dick, who was at his usual post at the bow, fancied ve vGMà a. à:î t'i.'KJaVxWs^ towards the