I say, ould black-face,"-- Barney was not on ceremony with the old trader,--"is there no land in thim parts at all ?" "No, not dis night," "Och, then, we'll have to git up a tree and try to cook somethin' there; for I'm not goin' to work on flour and wather.

Hallo! hould on! There's an island, or the portrait o' wan! Port your helm, Naygur! hard aport! D'ye hear ?" The old man heard, but, as usual, paid no attention to the Irishman's remarks; and the canoe would have passed straight on, had not Barney used his bow-paddle so energetically that he managed to steer her, as he expressed it, by the nose, and ran her against a mass of floating logs which had caught firmly in a thicket, and were so covered with grass and broken twigs as to have very much the appearance of a real island.

Here they landed, so to speak, kindled a small fire, made some coffee, roasted a few fish, baked several cakes, and were soon as happy and comfortable as hungry and wearied men usually are when they obtain rest and food.
"This is what I call jolly," remarked Barney.
"What's jolly ?" inquired Martin.
"Why _this_, to be sure,--grub to begin with, and a smoke and a convanient snooze in prospect," The hopes which Barney cherished, however, were destined to be blighted, at least in part.

To the victuals he did ample justice; the pipe was delightful, and in good working order; but when they lay down to repose, they were attacked by swarms of stinging ants, which the heat of the fire had driven out of the old logs.

These and mosquitoes effectually banished sleep from their eye-lids, and caused them to reflect very seriously, and to state to each other more than once very impressively, that, with all their beauties and wonders, tropical lands had their disadvantages, and there was no place like the "ould country," after all..