nd as near
to him as possible, is a species of Elysium to the sable son of Africa.
On their occasions of rejoicing, negroes procure and produce as much
noise as is possible, so that the white visitors were soon glad to seek
shelter, and find relief to their ears, on board ship.

But even there the sounds of rejoicing reached them, and long after the
curtain of night had enshrouded land and sea, the hideous din of royal
festivities came swelling out with the soft warm breeze that fanned
Ailie's cheek as she stood on the quarterdeck of the _Red Eric_,
watching the wild antics of the naked savages as they danced round their
bright fires, and holding her father's hand tightly as she related the
day's adventures, and told of the monkeys, crocodiles, and other strange
creatures she had seen in the mangrove-swamps and on the mud-banks of
the slimy river.

CHAPTER TEN.

AN INLAND JOURNEY--SLEEPING IN THE WOODS--WILD BEASTS EVERYWHERE--SAD
FATE OF A GAZELLE.

The damage sustained by the _Red Eric_ during the storm was found to be
more severe than was at first supposed. Part of her false keel had been
torn away by a sunken rock, over which the vessel had passed, and
scraped so lightly that no one on board was aware of the fact, yet with
sufficient force to cause the damage to which we have referred. A
slight leak was also discovered, and the injury to the top of the
foremast was neither so easily nor so quickly repaired as had been
anticipated.

It thus happened that the vessel was detained on this part of the
African coast for nearly a couple of weeks, during which time Ailie had
frequent opportunities of going on shore, sometimes in charge of Glynn,
sometimes with Tim Rokens, and occasionally with her father.

During these little excursions the child lived in a world of romance.
Not only were the animals, and plants, and objects of every kind with
which she came in contact, entirely new to her, except in so far as she
had made their acquaintance in pictures, but she invested everything in
the roseate hue peculiar to her own romantic mind. True, she saw many
things that caused her a good deal of pain, and she heard a few stories
about the terrible cruelty of the negroes to each other, which made her
shudder, but unpleasant thoughts did not dwell long on her mind; she
soon forgot the little annoyances or frights she experienced, and
revelled in the enjoyment of the beautiful sights and sweet perfumes
which more tha