So they hastened down from their height, and struck into what seemed very much like a travelway, it was so easy to pass along. And yet it had no appearance of being anything but natural, and so they had no suspicion of it. At first the slope was slightly downward, but kept all the time in the open, rocky space. Then it entered a wooded tract and led them to a pretty mountain stream.
They were tired, bananas offered themselves, and the water sounded so inviting either to drink or to bathe in that they could not resist.
“Let us bathe and eat before we go farther,” suggested Diego, and they did so.
Diego, who was somewhat more particular in the matter of cleanliness than the other sailors, always carried his comb in his pocket, and so he and Juan made their toilet to the extent of smoothing their hair; and then, very much refreshed, they got up and pushed on again.
The woods were evidently only the result of the brook bringing moisture and soil to the rocky tract; for in a little while the depression ceased, and they emerged once more into the same rocky belt.
“Hark!” said Diego of a sudden. “Do you hear any noise?”
“The sound of drums, or something of the sort? yes.”
They stopped and listened, and the noise grew distinctly in volume.