rought off his kill all right, and I guess we'd better leave
him to it a bit. I believe I don't particularly want to interfere with
him just now. Let's draw off a bit and have a look at one of those dead
brutes out yonder. I rather want to examine one; for I guess this is an
entirely new species of monkey."

"They look to me very much like gorillas," remarked Dick.

"They do," agreed Earle. "But, all the same, they are not gorillas.
There are no gorillas on this continent, so far as is known. The
gorilla is, I believe, peculiar to Africa. And these creatures, though
they certainly somewhat resemble gorillas in a general way, have certain
points of difference, the most important of which is the shape of the
skull, while another is their much greater bulk. I have shot several
gorillas; but I never saw one to come near any of these brutes in point
of size. By the way, where is the one you stopped with a broken leg?
We may as well put him out of his misery."

The creature in question was nowhere to be seen; but they eventually got
upon his trail and followed him up to the border of the forest, into
which he had evidently retreated; and they came to the conclusion that,
as he had contrived to get thus far, they would leave him alone and give
him a chance to recover. Then they found one of the dead apes, and
Earle subjected the carcass to a long and exhaustive examination, making
copious notes and discoursing learnedly meanwhile, though it is to be
feared that his remarks and explanations left Dick but little the wiser.
It was close upon sunset when at length they returned to the camp,
where they were shortly afterward joined by King Cole, once more calm
and in his right mind.

They took the precaution to surround the camp with a circle of fires
that night, to ward off a possible attack, posting a sentinel at each
fire for the double purpose of keeping it going and maintaining a watch.

The belt of forest which the explorers entered on the following day
proved to be of no very great extent, the passage through it occupying
but a day and a half. Emerging from it, the party crossed a splendid
savannah, abounding in game, chiefly of the antelope variety, and large
birds somewhat resembling bustard, the tameness of which seemed to
indicate that man was practically unknown to them, while it enabled them
to replenish their larder with the utmost ease. This savannah extended
for a distance of about ten miles, and term