e wood from whence they had started, when he showed
himself about one hundred yards ahead of them, dancing, capering, and
tumbling so like Begum, that they thought it was her before them, and
not him. He gained the caravan again without their knowing who played
them the trick; but he told Swanevelt, who speaks his language, and
Swanevelt told Bremen."

"Capital!" said the Major; "well, he is after some trick now, depend
upon it."

"He has a great talent for drawing," observed Alexander.

"A very great one; I have given him a pencil and occasionally a piece of
paper, and he draws all the birds, so that I can recognise them; but you
must know that all the Bushmen have that talent, and that their caves
are full of the sketches of all sorts of animals, remarkably
characteristic. The organ of imitation is very strongly developed in
the Bushmen, which accounts for their talents as draftsmen, and Omrah's
remarkable imitative powers."

"Do you then believe in phrenology, Swinton?" said Alexander.

"I neither believe nor disbelieve in that and many more modern
discoveries of the same kind I do not think it right to reject them or
to give blind credence. Not a day passes but some discovery excites our
wonder and admiration, and points out to us how little we do know. The
great fault is, that when people have made a discovery to a certain
extent, they build upon it, as if all their premises were correct;
whereas, they have, in fact, only obtained a mere glimmering to light
them to a path which may some future day lead to knowledge. That the
general principles of phrenology are correct may be fairly assumed, from
the examination of the skulls of men and animals, and of different men;
but I give no credence to all the divisions and subdivisions which have,
in my opinion, been most presumptuously marked out by those who profess,
and of course fully believe, the full extent of these supposed
discoveries."

"And mesmerism?" said Alexander.

"I make the same reply; there is something in it, that is certain, but
nothing yet sufficiently known to warrant any specific conclusions to be
drawn."

"There is a great deal of humbug in it," said the Major.

"So there is in all sciences; when truth fails them and they are at
fault, they fill up the hiatus with supposition; which is, as you term
it, humbug."

"Well, I vote that we return to our waggons; everybody appears fast
asleep except us three."

Such was not, however, the