sign to Harry to accompany him with his gun.

"If big ting come out of de water, fire at him head," he said, showing
that he was fully alive to the danger of approaching the lake,
especially of an evening, when the crocodiles are more active than at
other times during the day.

We kept the fire blazing up brightly, so that it might scare any wild
beasts prowling round about us. However, not trusting to that alone,
Charley and I kept our rifles by our sides and our eyes about us, lest a
lion or leopard might spring upon us unawares. Having got off Tom's
boot and sock, we examined his ankle. It looked blue and swollen, and
when we touched it he complained that it pained him much. Still, as far
as we could judge, no bone was broken.

"The only thing I can think of is to bind it up in a wet handkerchief,"
observed Charley; "the inflammation may thus be allayed."

While we were speaking we heard a shot from Harry's gun, showing that we
must not expect to obtain even a saucepan of water without trouble.
Shortly afterwards Aboh returned with the water. Charley asked for some
of it, and saturating a handkerchief, which he fortunately had in his
pocket, he bound up Tom's ankle. Harry told us that scarcely had Aboh
dipped the saucepan into the water, than a crocodile poked its ugly head
above the surface and made a dash at him.

"I was too quick, however, and firing, hit the creature in the throat,
when it slid off again into deep water," he added, "whether killed or
not I cannot say, as it sank immediately."

"You have done so well that we must get you to make another trip as soon
as we have eaten our soup, which, I suppose, Aboh intends to make out of
the elephant-meat, for I doubt if it will be palatable cooked in any
other way," said Charley.

We found that the black had brought several stones from the shores of
the lake. He now, having placed them in the fire, dug a hole near at
hand, into which he scraped some of the ashes, and then put in the
stones with the elephant's foot on the top of them. Above this having
placed some thick leaves, he quickly filled up the hole.

"Him soon good eat," he said.

Harry had in the meantime cut up some pieces of elephant-meat, which he
put into the saucepan. Having placed it on the fire, he stuck some
other slices on forked sticks as close as they could be placed to the
flames.

"We shall have the opportunity of trying the comparative excellencies of
three styles of c