him and his neighbors was received with extreme disfavor.



CHAPTER V.


So far, nothing had been seen of the rajah's prahus. When questioned
on the subject, he replied that they were all down on the coast,
trading with the natives; but it was so improbable that they should
have been sent away while the rajah was in fear of an attack by his
neighbors that no credence was given to the assertion. The ship's
boats often went out for long rows on the river, ostensibly--as
the captain told the rajah, who inquired suspiciously as to the
meaning of these excursions--for the sake of giving the crews
active exercise, but principally in order to take soundings of
the river, and to investigate the size and positions of the creeks
running into it. One day the gig and cutter had proceeded farther
than usual; they had started at daybreak, and had turned off into
what seemed a very small creek, that had hitherto been unexplored,
as from the width of its mouth it was supposed to extend but a short
distance into the forest. The master's mate was in command of one
boat, the second lieutenant of the other; Harry Parkhurst accompanied
the latter. After pushing through the screen of foliage that almost
closed the entrance to the creek, the boats rowed on for some
distance. For half a mile the width was but some fifteen yards,
and the trees met in an arch overhead, then it widened considerably.

"This is just the sort of place," the lieutenant said to Harry,
"where the rajah's prahus may be hidden away. We had best go along