kness had
set in before we reached the Castle, and we felt not a little anxious
lest some lurking wild beast might spring out on us--an event very
likely to happen in an African forest at night. We, however, reached
home in safety, and gave an account of our adventures. Our visit to the
Bakeles village excited great interest; but when I came to describe our
adventure with the elephants, I saw Kate and Bella's colour go.

"Oh, Andrew!" exclaimed Kate, "how dreadful it would have been had the
elephants reached you! How providential it was that Stanley and Senhor
Silva arrived in time to save your life!"

David and his sister both expressed a wish to visit the Bakeles.

"I am not quite certain that that would be wise," observed Stanley. "At
present they look upon us as a party of warriors who may be gone
to-morrow; but if they see young people, they will think we have come to
settle, and may perhaps be disposed to try and get rid of us."

Kate was very glad to hear that we had let the chimpanzee go.

"I wish, though, that you had brought the young one home; we could very
well have taken care of it, and Chico would like to have a playmate,"
exclaimed Bella.

"Possibly Chico and Chim might have quarrelled instead of played
together," observed Senhor Silva; "and I suspect you will find Chico
sufficient to look after."

Senhor Silva, though accustomed to the climate, was not so strong as
most of us, and the morning after our long expedition he was unable to
rise from his couch. David said he had a bad attack of fever; and as
the day wore on, he became delirious, and caused us great anxiety. He
had endeared himself to us by his kind and unpresuming manners; besides
which we knew that he would be very useful in enabling us to travel
through the country--indeed, without his aid the difficulties of
accomplishing the journey would be very great. Anxious as we were, we
could not all of us remain at home. David therefore stayed behind with
the two girls to attend on our sick friend, and Stanley begged me to
accompany him on a shooting expedition with Chickango, while Jack,
Timbo, and the two boys continued working on the second canoe. We were
anxious to shoot some pigeons and small game for our larder; though I
suspect Stanley would have been better pleased to come across some of
the larger animals of the forest. We had bagged a good many birds, when
a beautiful little gazelle came bounding across our path. It put m