n its
owner is absent from home. It is quite evident either that there are no
thieves among the lower animals there, or that there is nothing in the
hole to steal, for when he goes out he leaves the door open behind him.
When he returns he shuts the door, and the hole becomes invisible, in
consequence of the door being coated with earth on the outside. Its
inside is lined with a pure white silky substance, which at once
attracted my attention as I passed. On trying to pick up the door, I
found that it was attached by a hinge to the hole, and on being shut it
fitted exactly.

Perhaps the most singular discovery I made was a tree, the stem of which
had been so completely surrounded by spiders' webs that it could not be
seen, and I had to cut through the network with my knife in order to get
at the tree. The lines of those webs were as thick as coarse threads,
and pretty strong, as I had reason to know; for when walking back to
camp the same evening, meditating deeply on our unfortunate detention, I
ran my head into the middle of a spider's web, and was completely
enveloped in it, so much so that it was with considerable difficulty I
succeeded in clearing it away. I was as regularly netted as if a gauze
veil had been thrown over me.

On our third morning after the accident we set forth again, and
continued our journey by forced marches as Peterkin could bear it.
Although the two past days and nights had been absolutely lost, and
could not now be recalled, yet the moment we set out and left our camp
behind us, the load of anxiety was at once lifted off our minds, and we
hurried forward with an elasticity of step and spirit that was quite
delightful. We felt like prisoners set free, and kept up a continual
flow of conversation, sometimes in reference to the scenery and objects
around us, at other times in regard to our future plans or our past
experiences.

"It seems to me," said Jack, breaking silence at the end of a long pause
which had succeeded an animated discussion as to whether it were better
to spend one's life in the civilised world or among the wilds of Africa,
in which discussion Peterkin, who advocated the wild life, was utterly,
though not admittedly, beaten--"it seems to me that, notwithstanding the
short time we stayed in the gorilla country, we have been pretty
successful. Haven't we bagged thirty-three altogether?"

"Thirty-six, if you count the babies in arms," responded Peterkin.

"Of course w