temptible and
cowardly. We need not say that our friends Harold and Disco had no such
propensities. They had kindly consideration for the feelings of their
"niggers," coupled with great firmness; became very sociable with them,
and thus got hearty, willing work out of them. But to return from this
digression.

During the day, the number of animals of all sorts that were seen was so
great as to induce Disco to protest, with a slap of his thigh, that the
whole land, from stem to stern, seemed to him to be one prodigious
zoological garden--it did, an' no mistake about it.

Disco was not far wrong. He and Harold having started ahead of the
party, with Chimbolo as their guide, came on a wonderful variety of
creatures in rapid succession. First, they fell in with some large
flocks of guinea-fowl, and shot a few for dinner. As they advanced,
various birds ran across their path, and clouds of turtle-doves filled
the air with the blatter of their wings as they rose above the trees.
Ducks, geese, and francolins helped to swell the chorus of sounds.

When the sun rose and sent a flood of light over a wide and richly
wooded vale, into which they were about to descend, a herd of pallahs
stood gazing at the travellers in stupid surprise, and allowed them to
approach within sixty yards before trotting leisurely away. These and
all other animals were passed unmolested, as the party had sufficient
meat at the time, and Harold made it a point not to permit his followers
to shoot animals for the mere sake of sport, though several of them were
uncommonly anxious to do so. Soon afterwards a herd of waterbucks
were passed, and then a herd of koodoos, with two or three
magnificently-horned bucks amongst them, which hurried off to the
hillsides on seeing the travellers. Antelopes also were seen, and
buffaloes, grazing beside their path.

Ere long they came upon a small pond with a couple of elephants standing
on its brink, cooling their huge sides by drawing water into their
trunks and throwing it all over themselves. Behind these were several
herds of zebras and waterbucks, all of which took to flight on "getting
the wind" of man. They seemed intuitively to know that he was an enemy.
Wild pigs, also, were common, and troops of monkeys, large and small,
barked, chattered, grinned, and made faces among the trees.

After pitching the camp each afternoon, and having had a mouthful of
biscuit, the two Englishmen were in the habit o