have nothing to put into our mouths later. You will see that Gozo
follows my principle."

The fire had kept burning, and probably caused the elephants to turn
aside away from it. As there was no necessity for further concealment,
the party returned to their camp. Gozo proved that Denis was right, by
cutting off some huge slices, which in spite of the quantity he had
before eaten, he quickly stowed away in his inside. The horses were
feeding at no great distance off, so that they could keep watch over
them. They had hitherto been perfectly quiet, notwithstanding the
proximity of the elephants, cropping such tufts of grass as they could
find here and there, or the tender shoots of trees. Suddenly they began
to move about uneasily. First one lifted up its head and gazed around,
then another and another did the same Gozo observing them looked anxious
and said something to Denis. At that instant, before they could rise to
their feet, a dozen Zulus, who had crept up unperceived, suddenly sprang
up as if from the ground, holding their assegais poised in their hands,
and completely surrounded them.

Lionel, who was rapid in all his movements, lifted his rifle to fire.

"Don't do that!" cried Denis, in time to stop him; "it would be the
signal to them to kill us. We are in for it, and must try to make
friends with them."

Percy, who was looking towards the horses, cried out,--"They have got
hold of them all."

Several Zulus had in the meantime caught the animals, and were now
leading them up towards the camp.

It was evident that an attempt to escape would be useless, so the young
hunters sat still, as did Gozo, who looked very much astonished, not
being able to make out why the Zulus had captured them. They were
fierce-looking fellows, some of them being apparently chiefs, for they
wore kilts of monkey or cat skins round their waists. Their breasts and
backs were covered with ox-tails, while their heads were adorned with
caps of monkey skins, in which were stuck tall plumes composed of
ostrich and crane feathers. The rest of the men had very little
clothing beyond a small kilt of skins round their waists. They all
carried shields on their arms and a bundle of assegais in their hands.
Denis was the first to recover from his astonishment, and turning toward
one who appeared to be their leader, he asked in as quiet a tone as he
could command--

"Why have you thus come suddenly upon us, while we were enjoying