CHAPTER VI.
The meal at an end, my first thought was to make some steps by means of which we could reach the first strong branch of the tree. On a part of the root which rose high up out of the earth, so as to form an arch some six feet from the ground, we laid a large piece of sail cloth, and I then went in search of some thick canes that grew in the sands hard by. These we cut down, and, with the aid of some strong string, we bound them to four long poles, and thus made a pair of steps that would, we thought, reach far up the trunk.
On our way back from the sands, one of the dogs made a dart at a clump of reeds, and a troop of large birds rose on the wing with a loud noise. Fritz let fly at them, and brought down two at a shot. One of them fell quite dead, but its mate, though hurt in the wing, made use of its long legs so well that it would have got off if Bill had not held it till we came up. The joy of Fritz, to have caught such a strange bird, was so great that he would have us at once bind it by the neck and take it back with us. "Look," said Ernest, "what fine plumes he has, and you see he has
