jaws and make for its prey. The ass at once saw its foe,
but stood still as if struck with fear, and in less time than I take to
tell it, our old friend was tight in the folds of the boa.

This was a sad sight for all of us, yet we could not take our eyes off
the snake, but saw it crush the poor beast, and then gorge its prey.
When it had put the whole of the ass out of sight, it lay down on the
sand quite still, as if it had gone to sleep or died.

"Now is the time to seal the fate of our foe," said I to Fritz; and
with that we went out with our guns. When we got near, we both took a
straight aim, and each put a ball in its head. This made it move with a
start, and writhe as if in pain.

"See how its eyes glare on us with rage. Now load your gun, and let us
put a bit more lead in him."

Our next shot went in his eyes. It then shook as with a strong spasm,
and fell dead on the sand.

A shout of joy brought my wife and the three boys to the spot. The state
of fear they had been kept in for three whole days had made them quite
ill, but now the joy of Jack and Frank knew no bounds, for they leaped
on the snake and beat it as if they would go mad.

My wife said that the death of the boa took a great weight off her mind,
for she thought it would lie in wait for us near the Cave, starve us
out, and then kill us as it had done the poor ass.

We slit up the snake, and took out the flesh of the ass, which the boys
laid in a grave near Tent House. The boa's skin we hung up at the door
of the Cave, over which Ernest wrote the words, "No ass to be found
here," which we all thought to be a good joke.

One day late in the spring I went with my three sons a long way from the
Cave. My wife and Frank were left at our Half Way House, to wait till we
came back, but the dogs went with us. Our route lay far up the course of
a small stream, which had its source some miles north of the Farm House.
The ground was new to us, but we could not well lose our way, for on the
right stood a hill from which we could see the whole of the plain.

Ernest had gone with one of the dogs to a cave that he had spied at the
foot of the hill, but we saw him turn round and run back with Turk at
his heels. As soon as he thought his voice would reach us, he cried out,
"A bear! A bear! come to my help!"

We could now see that there were two great beasts at the mouth of the
cave. At a word from us both the dogs, flew to fight the bear that stood
in fron