AFLOAT The boys began at once the work on their raft, a rude structure of a few fallen logs, fastened together with bark and brush, but simple, strong and safe.

They finished it in two days, existing meanwhile on the deer meat, and early the morning afterwards, the clumsy craft, bearing the two navigators, was duly intrusted to the mercy of the unknown river.
Each of the boys carried a slender hickory pole with which to steer, and they also fastened securely to the raft the remainder of their deer, their most precious possession.
They pushed off with the poles, and the current catching their craft, carried it gently along.

It was a fine little river, running in a deep channel, and Henry became more sure than ever that it was the one that flowed by Wareville.

He was certain that the family resemblance was too strong for him to be mistaken.
They floated on for hours, rarely using their poles to increase the speed of the raft and by and by they began to pass between cliffs of considerable height.

The forest here was very dense.