Just beneath was a pretty little blue lake, walled in with great forest trees some of which must have been over a hundred feet high. A short way beyond was an immense field covered with what they were sure must be sugar-cane, and in which they could see dark-skinned men at work with queer carts and clumsy oxen. At the right, a mere thread of silver, was a river, hedged with tropical vegetation. This swept around toward their front, enlarging as it came, and at what seemed no farther than five miles away, poured its waters out into a great sea of apparently limitless expanse. The boys concluded at once that this great body of water must be the Atlantic Ocean, and when they saw a fair-sized town nestling among the trees at the point where the river joined the sea, their chart told them that the stream was the Essequibo River, and the collection of low-roofed buildings was none less than Georgetown! A few minutes later, they were circling the town to locate their landing-field which was to be marked with a large white letter T. Seeing it on the second turn, they swept down amongst a curious and half-frightened throng, and taxied to a stop. To their relief and gratification, they found that their rivals had not yet appeared. CHAPTER XVI TRICKED BY RIVALS Correcting their watches with Georgetown time, as given to them by Mr. Whiteshore, the Englishman in charge of the field, the boys found to their joy that they had arrived five minutes ahead of schedule. This would give them, if they wished to take it, a trifle more than three hours to spend in Georgetown. But first must come business; they must go over the machine very carefully and see if the long, hard run from Panama had done any damage; and they must replenish their fuel, oil, and water supply. They were happy to find both engines in fine shape, thanks to the possibility of alternating them in transit, and beyond a number of scratches and the cracked glass made by the condors in their attack in crossing the Andes the airplane was in perfect shape. Paul climbed up and examined the helium-gas valves, of which there were three in each wing, one for each of three compartments, and announced that the pressure showed only an insignificant decrease. At the rate of escapage indicated, they would have plenty to last them for the whole trip. This was reassuring knowledge, for no envelope can be made so impervious that light gases will not escape at all. The body compartment also showed good pressure. It took them an hour and fifteen minutes to replenish the fuel tanks and water radiator and put everything in shape. Just as they were finishing up, a cry from the curious crowd around them called their attention to the western sky, and they saw an airplane approaching. This developed rapidly into the unmistakable outlines of the _Clarion_, and in a few minutes the rival crew landed in the field. Pete Deveaux sauntered over to the crew of the Sky-Bird II.