able
task was over, and the men were free to bathe, change their clothing,
and generally make themselves presentable. This done, the _Flying Fish_
was taken back to her former berth on the bush-encircled area of open
ground, it having been unanimously agreed to spend a few days longer in
so splendid a game country as this seemed to be. But all were agreed
that, after their exertions of the day, they were rather too tired to
enjoy a night's watching among the reeds of the lake. The entire party
therefore adjourned to the music-room for an hour or two after dinner,
and retired early to their cabins to recuperate in readiness for
whatever the morrow might have in store for them.

For a full week the party hunted this grand game-producing district,
accumulating such a pile of lion and leopard skins, ostrich feathers,
ivory, rhinoceros-horns, and other trophies of the chase, that at length
Sir Reginald laughingly protested against any further slaughter,
declaring that unless an immediate move were made, the _Flying Fish_
would be unable to carry away the accumulated cargo, which, he reminded
his companions, would doubtless be largely added to ere they turned
their faces homeward. But although the sport was good, it was
uneventful; there were no thrilling adventures or hairbreadth escapes to
record, due, so Mildmay half-grumblingly asserted, to the fact that
their weapons were so perfect that the poor animals had no chance to
show sport. Accordingly, on the morning of a certain day, the great
ship once more rose into the air, and in leisurely fashion headed away
to the southward and eastward, on her way toward the ruins of ancient
Ophir, discovered by the baronet and his companions during the course of
their previous voyage of exploration in the _Flying Fish_.

Proceeding at the slow rate of one hundred miles per day, with
occasional pauses where game happened to be sighted that it was thought
worth while to hunt, the party arrived on a certain evening within sight
of a vast stretch of forest-land, extending east and west as far as the
eye could see, from the moderate elevation of three hundred feet at
which they were travelling. This, von Schalckenberg declared, was the
Great Central African Forest discovered by Stanley, covering an area of
several thousand square miles of unexplored country, the home of the
pygmies, the gorilla, and heaven alone knew what other new, strange, and
interesting inhabitants, and offering