river."

"That's a splendid idea!" cried Venning. "I'm beginning to get
mouldy. A trip ashore would be ripping, now that we have distanced
our pursuers."

"I second that motion," said Compton, with a longing glance
shorewards. "Do you know, sir, that we have not shot a thing since
we entered the Congo?"

"I have no objection," said the hunter. "And we must have a good
supply of biltong before we enter the forest; but we cannot afford
to take risks. Just examine the shore for a creek, and at dusk we
will run across."

The boys passed the afternoon searching the south bank for signs of
a creek, and in the evening the Okapi shaped her course across to a
likely spot they had marked out. But though they found a creek, it
was not one that commended itself as a hiding to Mr. Hume, and it
was not till after a wearisome hunt for hours in the dark that they
found a channel leading through the hills which he agreed to follow
up; and then, when they had entered about a mile, Muata, with his
jackal, was landed to "feel" around for native paths or villages.
Muata, after a long absence, reported all safe as far as he could
judge, and they tied up. In the morning they found themselves in the
thick of the woods, and pushed on down a dark and sluggish stream
strewn with fallen timber, till they came to a pool in a gorge. Here
they resolved to leave their boat.

They took the Okapi to pieces, stowed them away in a dry cavern in
the krantz, covered them with the tarpaulins, and pushed on down
through the gorge on foot, emerging beyond the hills which bordered
the Congo into a rolling country, park-like in appearance. They
studied the land well before they continued, first for signs of
native villages, and next for game. Smoke rose far away to the
right, but nearer, the country seemed deserted, and as plenty of
game appeared in sight, they determined to camp on the slopes of the
hill. So they looked about for a good pitch, and made choice of a
sunny spot at the foot of a rocky cliff, not far from the stream
they had followed, and well screened from view by a thicket of bush
in the front. They stowed away their blankets in a small cave at the
base of the cliff, and then started off for the first hunt, the boys
in a fine state of excitement. They struck into a game-path leading
through thick scrub, and five minutes from the start there was a
sullen snort, a tremendous crashing in the woods, as if, at least, a
herd of elephant were s