"We shall have the current with us," M. Zermatt answered, "if we wait for the flood tide. The tide will turn soon, and in six hours we shall be able to take advantage of it."
"Will it not be too late to make a start then?" Mrs. Wolston suggested.
"Well, yes, it would be too late," M. Zermatt replied. "So it seems to me it would be wiser to finish the day here, spend the night on board, and get under way with the flood tide at daybreak."
"And until then?" Jack enquired.
"Until then," M. Zermatt answered, "we shall have time to inspect the creek and the immediate neighbourhood. But, as the heat is very great, I advise the ladies to await our return at the camp."
"Willingly," said Mrs. Wolston, "provided you do not go very far away."
"It is merely a matter of a walk along the right bank of the river, from which we will not wander," M. Zermatt promised.
This plan permitted of an investigation of the lower valley being made before penetrating into the hinterland.
M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston, with Ernest and Jack, climbed up onto the bank again, and reached some slightly swelling ground which connected the water-course with the country on the western side.
This territory presented a very fertile appearance—woods, here and there, in dense masses; plains carpeted with thick grass, where thousands of ruminants might have found sustenance; a veritable network of little streams all running towards the main river; and lastly, like a barrier on the south-western horizon, the mountain range which had already been remarked in that direction.