ntimating that if his
father would give him leave he would accompany us. His father's voice,
however, called him back, and, with a look of regret, he again left us.

"At all events," observed Natty, "we must acknowledge that gratitude can
exist in the breasts of these Africans."

"It does certainly in that of our friend," I said. "They generally have
a very different character bestowed on them."

As long as the blacks remained in sight, we could see the young chief
every now and then turning and casting lingering glances towards us.

We now pushed on, hoping to find some secure place where we might pass
the night. We were fortunate in finding a tree with wide-spreading
branches, radiating so closely from a common centre that they formed a
wide and secure platform on which we could rest without fear of falling
off. We climbed up as soon as we had supped, and passed the night in
perfect quiet.

I need not mention the incidents of the two following days. We were
cheered as we trudged on with the expectation of soon rejoining our
friends.

It struck me, on the third day of our journey, as we walked on, that
Natty was less inclined to speak than usual; and looking at his face, I
saw that he was deadly pale. He did not complain, however. I asked him
if anything was the matter. He said no; he only felt a little fatigued,
and thought that he should be revived by a night's rest. I proposed
that we should stop at once; but to this he would not consent, declaring
that he was well able to get on as long as daylight lasted.

The country though which we passed was similar to what I have already
described. We proceeded in as direct a line as we could steer, keeping
the distant hills on our right, instead of going towards them.

I proposed the following day to begin circling round more directly for
them, as I hoped that we had now gone far enough south to avoid the
village against which the chief and his son had warned us. I should not
have hesitated, however, to have gone amongst the people, had I not
feared that we might be detained by them as we had been by their
neighbours.

The forest as we advanced grew thinner, and we found the trees at length
standing so widely apart that we could see the plain beyond them. As
the wood might afford us more shelter than the open plain, and the sun
was already sinking towards the blue hills in the distance, we agreed to
halt. As I saw that Natty was not able to exert himsel