His object was now to regain that path which he had lost the night before, and follow it until he might find another brook, or at least a swamp. But though he sought most diligently, and most thoroughly, in all directions, still he could find no trace of it whatever. Bitter experience had already taught him his own utter incapability of finding his way back through these woods to any point from which he might have wandered, and so he soon gave up this search as useless: but in addition to this, his thirst was altogether too pressing to allow of any search after lost paths. The one thing of his desire became water, and so he turned his attention towards finding this first necessity. He did not have to undergo a very long trial. The woods were intersected in many places by small brooklets, and before long he came to a bog, in which he obtained sufficient water to allay his thirst. By carefully examining this, he found a place which was the outlet of a brook, and he now pursued the same course which had been followed by him the day before; that is, he walked along in the bed of the brook, hoping that it would lead to a stream. As he walked along it grew larger and larger; other brooks joined it; and at length it ran into a stream which was quite as large as that one from which he had originally wandered. On reaching this he sat down on the bank and rested. The stream was about a dozen yards wide here, and the waters were shallow, running on among gravel and cobble stones. The banks were bordered with trees, which rose to the height of about forty feet, and threw their branches across the stream till they nearly met.