and dislikes. Find the plant they dislike, and we may defy them."

They had no accommodation for such a luxury as a tent, but instead
they purchased canvas hammocks, each with a waterproof covering, and
a roll of green canvas with strong eyelet-holes, to serve the
purpose of a tent, in addition to a canvas awning with bamboo rods,
to cover the whole boat in case they were not able to land for any
length of time.

It was a pleasant time for the boys, and when at last they were
pitching down the Channel into the Bay of Biscay, having meanwhile
passed through a miserable twenty-four hours, they inhaled the
strong salt air and clapped each other on the back.

It was grand!

They stood in the bows, one hand on the rail, the other on the brim
of a hat, and tasted the salt with a smack of the lips. The wind
blew its life into their eyes, brightened them, toughened their
skins, reddened them, and the spray, drying on the red, softened the
colour to a fine healthy brown. Then the good ship heeled over and
rolled back with a swing of the yards, and the first roller from the
Atlantic went majestically by. They were on the old, old track of
the adventurers, of the sea-rovers, of the great captains, of the
empire builders, and before them, far off in the fastness of the
Dark Continent, was the Great Forest with all its secrets fast held.



CHAPTER III