but men clad in black skins could work.

We must however guard the reader here from supposing that it is always
piping hot in Africa. There are occasional days when the air may be
styled lukewarm, when the sky is serene, and when all nature seems
joyful and enjoyable,--days in which a man opens his mouth wide and
swallows down the atmosphere; when he _feels_ his health and strength,
and rejoices in them, and when, if he be not an infidel, he also feels a
sensation of gratitude to the Giver of all good.

On such a day, soon after entering the East Luavo mouth of the Zambesi,
the explorers, for such we may almost venture to style them, ascended
the smooth stream close to the left bank, Harold leading, Disco
following closely in his wake.

The men rowed gently, as if they enjoyed the sweet calm of early
morning, and were unwilling to disturb the innumerable flocks of
wild-fowl that chuckled among the reeds and sedges everywhere. Harold
sat in the stern, leaning back, and only dipping the steering-oar lazily
now and then to keep the canoe from running on the bank, or plunging
into a forest of gigantic rushes. Disco, having resolved to solace
himself with a whiff of his darling pipe, had resigned "the helm" to
Jumbo, and laid himself in a position of comfort which admitted of his
resting his head on the gunwale in such a manner that, out of the
corners of his eyes, he could gaze down into the water.

The part of the river they had reached was so perfectly still that every
cloud in the sky, every mangrove, root and spray, and every bending
bulrush, was perfectly reproduced in the reflected world below.
Plaintive cries of wild-fowl formed appropriate melody, to which
chattering groups of monkeys and croaking bull-frogs contributed a fine
tenor and bass.

"Hallo, Disco!" exclaimed Harold in a subdued key, looking over his
shoulder.

"Ay, ay, sir?" sighed the seaman, without moving his position.

"Range up alongside; I want to speak to you."

"Ay, ay, sir.--Jumbo, you black-faced villain, d'ee hear that? give way
and go 'longside."

Good-humoured Jumbo _spoke_ very little English, but had come to
understand a good deal during his travels with Dr Livingstone. He
wrinkled his visage and showed his brilliant teeth on receiving the
order. Muttering a word to the men, and giving a vigorous stroke, he
shot up alongside of the leader's canoe.

"You seem comfortable," said Harold, with a laugh, as Disco's vast
visage