"At the time you captured the chief here?"
"Yes. And while we are on the subject, I wish you would see if you recognize the headdress of the chief we have here."
Ralph looked it over, and to the surprise of all announced that he had never seen that kind before.
"How many tribes do you think are on the island?" was George's question.
"Probably a half dozen or more. Our means for learning these things were very limited, although we have had a close acquaintance with them for the past six months."
"Before you go on with your story I want to ask a question or two," said the Professor, as he glanced at John. "Did you ever come across a large river, like this one, and which flowed in a different direction, say, to the east?"
Neither of the boys remembered such a stream.
"Have you ever been near the range of mountains which we can see to the east of us?"
"Oh, yes; we were taken way down west of those mountains. After seeing the captors a safe distance away, we started in an opposite direction, and found ourselves on a little stream of water, and picked out a resting place on one shore among the bush where a little overhanging hill offered some shelter. Before night both of us became very ill, and had taken to vomiting, and then imagined that the berries had poisoned us. For two days we lay there, almost too weak to move, and afraid to venture out, on account of the savages. We found nuts and ate sparingly at first, as our stomachs were too weak to permit us to take much at a time. Then we found some things like sweet potatoes, and Tom had a box of matches which was a great boon to us."
"Well, that is better than we had when we landed," and George laughed at the reminiscence.