At last he went so far as to strike one fine tall fellow over the shoulders, with the result that the New Guinea man threw down his load, the others followed suit, and all made rapid preparations for a fight.
Humble as he was with me, I must do Jimmy the credit of saying that he did not turn tail, but threw himself into an attitude as if about to hurl his spear; and blood would undoubtedly have been shed had I not taken it upon myself to interfere, to the great satisfaction of our bearers.
Order then was restored, the loads were resumed, and Jimmy, who did not seem in the slightest degree abashed by being degraded before the men he had ill-treated, strutted on, and the journey was continued, everyone on the look-out for dangerous beast or savage man.
The doctor and I carried revolvers and double-barrelled guns, one barrel being charged with ball.

Jack Penny was delighted by being similarly furnished; and in addition he asked for an axe, which he carried stuck in his belt.
We were each provided with a similar weapon, ready to hand at times to the blacks, who were always ready to set down their burdens and make short work of the wild vines and growth that often impeded our path.
We had determined--I say we, for from the moment of starting the doctor had begun to treat me as his equal in every sense, and consulted me on every step we took; all of which was very pleasant and flattering to me; but I often felt as if I would rather be dependent upon him--we had then determined to strike into the country until we reached the banks of a great river, whose course we meant to follow right up to the sources in the mountains.
There were good reasons for this, as a moment's thought will show.
To begin with, we were in a land of no roads, and most of our journey would be through dense forest, whereas there was likely to be a certain amount of open country about the river banks.
Then we were always sure of a supply of water; game is always most abundant, both birds and beasts, near a river, and, of course, there is always a chance of getting fish; fruit might also be found, and what was more, the villages of the natives not upon the coast are nearly always upon the rivers.
Of course, on the other hand, there were plenty of dangers to be risked by following a river's course: fever, noxious beast and insect, inimical natives, and the like; but if we had paused to think of the dangers, we might very well have shrunk from our task, so we put thoughts of that kind behind us and journeyed on.
At first, after getting through a dense patch of forest, we came upon open plains, and a part of the country that looked like a park; and as I trudged on with fresh objects of interest springing up at every turn, I found myself wondering whether my poor father had passed this way, and as I grew weary I began to take the most desponding views of the venture, and to think that, after all, perhaps he was dead.
That we were in a part not much troubled by human beings we soon found by the tameness of the birds and the number of deer that dashed frightened away from time to time, hardly giving us a glimpse of their dappled skins before they were lost in the jungly growth.
The walking had grown more difficult as the day wore on, and at last the great trees began to give place to vegetation of a different kind.
Instead of timber we were walking amongst palm-like growth and plants with enormous succulent leaves.

Great climbers twined and twisted one with another, unless they found some tree up which they seemed to force their way to reach the open sunshine, forming a splendid shelter from the ardent rays when we wished to rest.
There was no attempt during the morning to make use of our guns, for at first we moved watchfully, always on the look-out for enemies, seeing danger in every moving leaf, and starting at every rustling dash made by some frightened animal that crossed our path.
By degrees, though, we grew more confident, but still kept up our watchfulness, halting at mid-day beside a little clear stream in a spot so lovely that it struck me as being a shame that no one had a home there to revel in its beauties.
The water ran bubbling along amongst mossy rocks, and overhung by gigantic ferns.

There were patches of the greenest grass, and close by, offering us shade, was a clump of large trees whose branches strewed brightly coloured flowers to the earth.

A flock of gorgeously plumaged birds were noisily chattering and shrieking in the branches, and though they fled on our first coming, they came back directly and began climbing and swinging about so near that I could see that they were a small kind of parrot, full of strange antics, and apparently playing at searching for their food.
"We'll have two hours' rest here," said the doctor, "a good meal, and perhaps a nap, and our feet bathed in the cool water, and the rest of the day's journey will come easier." "But hadn't we better get on ?" I said anxiously.
"`Slow and sure' must be our motto, Joe," said the doctor.