; many
tigers; one rhinoceros."

"Is that the spoor of a lion?" asked Warley with much interest, as he
stooped down and examined the footprints. "How can you tell it from
that of a large tiger?"

"You may always know the spoor of a lion by the marks of the toe-nails,"
said Lavie; "they turn in, whereas those of other feline animals
project. Yes, that is a lion's spoor, sure enough, and those broad deep
prints are as plainly those of a rhinoceros, and a pretty large one too.
And there are plenty of others besides, which I am not sure of.
Omatoko was certainly right. It was quite as well that we did not
bivouac by this pool."

Breakfast was now announced, and the party gathered round the eatables,
when it was for the first time noticed that Nick was not present.

"I suppose he is still asleep," said the surgeon. "I called to him to
come and help me to get Omatoko down, but I got nothing but an
intelligible growl at first, and then a sleepy assurance that he would
be sure to be in time for breakfast."

"No, he is not the fellow to miss that," remarked Frank. "He must be
very sleepy indeed, before he'll go without his victuals. Depend upon
it he will be here in a minute or two."

Half an hour however passed away, and the meal was quite completed, and
still no Nick made his appearance.

"Go, and look after him, Frank," said the doctor, "while I consult with
Omatoko as to what ought to be done next. We can't afford to lose time,
if it should be thought better for us to move."

Wilmore took up his gun accordingly, and walked off towards the tree
where they had slept. The dense foliage almost entirely concealed the
staging from sight: but as he drew nearer he was sensible of loud
chattering and gibbering sounds, intermixed occasionally with shrill
screams, which seemed to come from a great number of throats. Wondering
what this could mean, he made his approach as noiselessly as possible,
and climbing up to the top of one of the roots, which projected a foot
or two upwards, he peered cautiously over the edge of the platform. A
most extraordinary sight greeted him, and it was with the greatest
difficulty that he restrained himself from bursting into a loud laugh.

Nick was seated in the middle of the stage, bareheaded and without
shoes, and was gazing upward with a look of mingled alarm and annoyance,
which seemed to the spectator of the scene irresistibly ludicrous. On
the boughs immediately over his head,