The fire was well drawn together and replenished with fuel, and then, shouldering their guns, the party started; but upon Oliver Lane glancing back he called a halt.
“Here, Wriggs,” he cried, “we don’t want that ladder, nor those ropes, Smith.”
“Don’t yer, sir?”
“No, we are going along the edge of the forest. Take those things back.”
The ladder and ropes were taken back and then a fresh start was made, the explorers keeping well to the edge of the forest for several reasons, the principal being that they could easily get out toward the barren slope of the mountain, and the travelling was so much easier as they formed a line and beat the undergrowth for specimens and game.
“Pot first, you know,” said Panton, “science later on. Are we likely to get a deer of any kind, Lane?”
“No,” said Drew decisively.
“Why not?” said Lane. “We have seen that there are leopards, and leopards must have something to live upon. I should say that we may find some small kind of deer.”
“Leopards might live on the monkeys,” said Panton.
“Perhaps so, but I’m prepared for anything in a place like this. What’s that?”