large tree where foliage promised perfect security. A difficulty now presented itself, and which they had overlooked until the last moment, which was, that although Quandak could easily climb the tree, Charlie would be unable to accomplish such a feat.
A second search was accordingly made, when they found a hollow stump standing near the encampment, into which Charlie was obliged to lower himself from the top and crouch down. Quandak had barely time to gain the position allotted to him, when the foremost of the tribe made their appearance, and, fortunately for the explorers, they were too tired and hungry to notice any tracks or indications of the presence of any foe. The darkness of the evening, which was now closing in, favoured Charlie and his companion greatly.
The clamour and noise made by the natives in erecting gunyahs, together with the preparation of their evening meal, struck strangely on Charlie's ear within his narrow prison, and he expected every moment that some of them would set fire to his refuge. This was not done, and he was left unmolested to commune with his own thoughts, and meditate on his peculiar and unsafe situation.
As the darkness advanced, and the glare of the fires became more visible, Charlie observed that a small crack in the shell admitted a little light from the opposite fire, and through which he peered, in order to obtain a view of those immediately before him; when, to his surprise, he saw Maria, Quandak's wife, in her old calico dress, in close conversation with another female in a fur dress, but whose face was turned from him.
There being no other person at the same fire, he kept his eyes fixed on them, as he was anxious to see the face of the woman talking with Maria, and whose dress appeared to be made in a more civilised manner than those worn by aboriginal women.
Maria now replenished the fire, which sent up a bright blaze, and, at the same time, her companion turned her face full upon it. Was it a vision Charlie now beheld? his face felt cold, his limbs trembled! He gasped for breath, and, wiping his eyes, for he doubted them, he
