arfare,
in that they were not charged with gunpowder, but with a preparation of
the singular substance employed for generating the motive power of the
ship's engines. This substance was so tremendously powerful that a very
minute quantity was all that was needed to take the place of the usual
powder charge, hence the possibility of stowing away as many as twenty
cartridges in a magazine of only ordinary size. Furthermore, the
cartridges were loaded with several different kinds of missiles. There
was, for instance, the cartridge charged with shot of various sizes--
from dust-shot for the killing of humming-birds and such like, up to
ordinary buck-shot--enclosed in a case so fragile that the friction of
its passage along the rifling of the barrel destroyed it, causing it to
crumble to dust as it emerged from the muzzle of the weapon, and leave
the charge of shot free to do its work in the same manner as though
fired from an ordinary shot-gun. Then there was the cartridge charged
with the usual sporting bullet employed for shooting such game as buck
and antelopes; the cartridge with a soft-nosed bullet for war purposes
and the shooting of the larger game, such as giraffes, lions, tigers,
leopards, and the like; and, finally, the cartridge charged with a
thick, heavy steel shell that exploded and blew to pieces upon striking
its mark, thus inflicting so terrible a wound as usually to prove
instantly fatal. This last was intended for use in the shooting of
elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and other animals with exceptionally
thick hides, and for any case of exceptional emergency. It was, of
course, the Numbers 2 and 3 cartridges with which the sportsmen provided
themselves on the present occasion.

The weapons having been selected and a sufficient supply of cartridges
slipped into each man's pocket, the hunters ascended to the deck to take
a preliminary look round with their binoculars, upon the off-chance that
they might catch a glimpse of something that would help them to a
decision as to the point to which to direct their steps. And here they
discovered that the ladies had preceded them, Lady Olivia, Mlle.
Sziszkinski, and Ida being already there and intently searching the
rocks with their glasses.

"Well, Ida," demanded Sir Reginald, "how many lions have you already
seen?"

"None at all, papa," answered the child, in a playfully aggrieved tone
of voice. "I saw a deer standing upon that highest rock, a few m