About midday
It was in this way that Karl had resolved upon making his collections , leaving the seeds and nuts he should obtain at various places upon his route ; and , when returning , he trusted to be able to employ some coolies to assist in getting them carried to Calcutta or some other sea-port . On the fourth day the travellers again took the route , still facing due northward in the direction of the mountains . They needed no guide to point out their course , as the river which they had resolved upon following upwards was guide enough ; usually they kept along its banks , but sometimes a thick marshy jungle forced them to abandon the water-edge and keep away for some distance into the back country , where the path was more safe and open . About midday they arrived at the banks of a stream , that was a branch of the main river . This stream lay transversely to their route , and , of course , had to be crossed . There was neither bridge nor ford , nor crossing of any kind to be seen , and the current was both wide and deep . They followed it up for more than a mile ; but it neither grew shallower nor yet more narrow .