rilliance that the
children had not seen anything like it, even on the Libyan Desert. The
lower clouds, those nearest the earth, were dyed cherry-colored, the
upper, better illuminated, overflowed in the shape of a lake of purple
and gold, and the tiny woolly cloudlets changed colors like rubies,
amethysts, and opals. During the night time, between one downpour of
rain and another, the moon transformed into diamonds the drops of dew
which clung on the mimosa and acacia leaves, and the zodiacal light
shone in the refreshed transparent air more brightly than at any other
season of the year.

From the overflow which the river formed below the waterfall came the
uneasy croaking of frogs and the doleful piping of toads, and
fireflies, resembling shooting stars, flew from bank to bank amid the
clumps of bamboo and arum.

But when clouds covered the starry heaven and the rain began to fall it
became very dusky and the interior of the baobab tree was as dark as in
a cellar. Desiring to avoid this, Stas ordered Mea to melt the fat of
the killed game and make a lamp of a small plate, which he placed
beneath the upper opening, which was called a window by the children.
The light from this window, visible from a distance in the darkness,
drove away the wild animals, but on the other hand attracted bats and
even birds so much that Kali finally was compelled to construct in the
opening something in the nature of a screen of thorns similar to the
one with which he closed the lower opening for the night.

However, in daytime, during fair weather, the children left "Cracow"
and strolled over the promontory. Stas started after antelope-ariels
and ostriches, of which numerous flocks appeared near the river below,
while Nell went to her elephant, who in the beginning trumpeted only
for food and later trumpeted when he felt lonesome without his little
friend. He always greeted her with sheer delight and pricked his
enormous ears as soon as he heard from the distance her voice or her
footsteps.

Once, when Stas went hunting and Kali angled for fish beyond the
waterfall, Nell decided to go to the rock which closed the ravine, to
see whether Stas had done anything about its removal. Mea, occupied
with preparations for dinner, did not observe her departure; while on
the way, the little maid, gathering flowers, particularly begonia which
grew abundantly in the rocky clefts, approached the declivity by which
they at one time left the ravine