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320 DICK SAXDS, THE nOY CAPTAI.V, CHAPTER VIL A SLAVE CAR A VAN. The storm of thc prcvîous nîght,byswellîng the tributarics of thc Coanza, had causcd the main river to overflow îts banks. Thc inundatîon had cntircly changcd thc aspect of thc country, transforming the plain into a lake, where the pcaks of a niimbcr of ant-hills wcrc thc sole objccts that emcrged above the watcry expanse. The Coanza, which is one of the principal rîvcrs of Angola, falls into thc Atlantic about a hundred miles from the spot at which thc " Pilgrim " was stranded. Thc stream, which a few years later was crossed by Camcron on his way to Bcnguela, sccms dcstincd to bccome thc chief highway of trafTîc betwccn Angola and thc interior ; steamers alrcady ply upon its lower waters, and probably ten years will not elapsc bcforc thcy perform rcgular service along its entire course. Dick Sands had bccn quîte rîght în scarching northwards for the navigable stream hc had bccn so anxioiis to find ; the rivulct hc had bccn following fcll into thc Coanza scarce a mile away, and had it not bccn for tliis unexpected attack hc and his fricnds might rcasonably hâve hoped to descend the river upon a raft, until thcy reachcd one of the Portuguesc forts wlicrc steam vcsscls put in. But their fate was ordered otherwisc. The camp which Dick had dcscrîcd from thc ant-hill was pitched upon an cminence crowned by an enormous sycamore-fig, one of thosc giant trces occasionally found în Central Africa, of which the spreading foliage will shcltcr