ack said this he stepped out from among the bushes and advanced to
meet the strangers. Of course we all followed, and although we carried
our rifles in a careless manner, as if we expected no evil, yet we held
ourselves in readiness to take instant action if necessary.

The moment the negroes perceived us, they set up a great shout and
brandished their spears and guns, but the voice of their leader was
instantly heard commanding them to halt. They obeyed at once, and the
European stranger advanced alone to meet us. As he drew near we
observed that he was a splendid-looking man, nearly as large as Jack
himself, with a handsome figure and a free, off-hand gait. But on
coming closer we saw that his countenance, though handsome, wore a
forbidding, stern expression.

"Dat am a slabe-dealer," whispered our guide, as the stranger came up
and saluted us in French.

Jack replied in the same language; but on learning that we were
Englishmen, he began to talk in our own tongue, although he evidently
understood very little of it.

"Do you travel alone with the natives?" inquired Jack, after a few
preliminary remarks.

"Yaas, sair, I doos," replied the stranger, who was a Portuguese trader,
according to his own account.

"You seem to carry little or no merchandise with you," said Jack,
glancing towards the party of natives, who stood at some distance
looking at us and conversing together eagerly.

"I has none wis me, true, bot I has moche not ver' far off. I bees go
just now to seek for ivory, and ebony, and sl-a---w'at you call him?
barwood."

The man corrected himself quickly, but the slip confirmed Makarooroo's
remark and our own suspicions that he was a slave-dealer.

"De day is far gone," he continued, putting as amiable a smile on his
countenance as possible; "perhaps you vill stop and we have dine
togedder."

Although we did not much like the appearance of our new friend or his
party, we felt that it would be uncourteous in so wild a country, where
we had so few chances of meeting with white faces, to refuse, so we
agreed. A camp-fire was speedily kindled, and the two parties mingled
together, and sat down amicably to discuss roast monkey and venison
steaks together.

During the course of the meal the Portuguese trader became so
communicative and agreeable that we all began to think we had judged him
harshly. We observed, too, that Makarooroo and the negroes had
fraternised heartily, and our guide was si