money on his head, or
a term of labour equivalent to the money I paid for him; and, on the
payment of such money, or on the conclusion of such labour, that he be
for ever freed from bondage. So says the Kuran, and such is our law,
and such has been my practice, and I would advise thee to do likewise
when the time shall come."

"I thank thee, my father; it is all clear to me now. But stop! harken
to that sound! What may that be? Can it be the hyaena?"

"Yes, the hyaenas are out early this evening. They are hungry; but,
Selim, my son, haste to tell Simba and Moto to set the tent on that flat
piece of ground near that great tree, and bid them to be sure to turn
the door of the tent to-day towards the east."

"Yes, my father;" and Selim, the fleet-footed youth, agile as a young
leopard, leaped over several bushes, as he ran to do his parent's
bidding.

The camp was situated on a limited terrace or shelf of ground rising
above a body of water which more resembled a long narrow lake than a
river. Yet it was the river Lofu, or Rufu, as some call it, which in
the dry season, like many an African river, loses its current, and
becomes a series of long narrow pools, which in some places may be
compared to lakes for their length, according to the nature of the
ground wherein these depressions are found. If the ground is rocky, or
of clayey mud, the water is retained, instead of being absorbed, in
which swarm multitudes of the _silurus_, or bearded mud-fish. Wherever
mud-fish are abundant, crocodiles, the great fish-eating reptiles of the
African water, are sure to be found; and wherever crocodiles are found
one is almost sure to find the hippopotamus, the behemoth of Scripture;
not because crocodiles and hippopotami have any affinity with each
other, but because the soil, which retains the water during the hot days
of the droughty season, is almost sure to produce in the vicinity of the
pools abundance of rich grass and tall cane, the food of the
hippopotamus.

About two hours before sunset, soon after camping, Selim, accompanied by
Simba and two other men, named Baruti and Mombo, sallied out of the camp
with his faithful rifle on his shoulder to hunt for game.

The party travelled towards the upper end of the narrow lake the caravan
had camped by. Matete cane, spear, and tiger grass, in profusion, grew
near this end, and beyond lay a thin jungle, the borders of which
touched the water line. It was to this jungle