ome out until after sunset."

Stas for a long time could not recover from his surprise, and were it
not that it was urgent for him to proceed on his way he would have
halted the caravan until night in order to view better these singular
animals. But it occurred to him that the elephants might emerge from
the water on the opposite side, and even if they came out nearer it
would be difficult to observe them closely in the dusk.

He gave the signal for the departure, but on the road said to Nell:

"Well! We have seen something which the eyes of no European have ever
seen. And do you know what I think?--that if we reach the ocean safely
nobody will believe us when I tell them that there are water-elephants
in Africa."

"But if you caught one and took him along with us to the ocean?" Nell
said, in the conviction that Stas as usual would be able to accomplish
everything.

XXIII

After ten days' journey the caravan finally crossed the depressions in
the crests of mountains and entered into a different country. It was an
immense plain, broken here and there by small hills, but was mainly
level. The vegetation changed entirely. There were no big trees, rising
singly or in clumps over the wavy surface of the grass. Here and there
projected at a considerable distance from each other acacias yielding
gum, with coral-hued trunks, umbrella-like, but with scant foliage and
affording but little shade. Among the white-ant hillocks shot upwards
here and there euphorbias, with boughs like the arms of a candle-stick.
In the sky vultures soared, and lower there flew from acacia to acacia
birds of the raven species with black and white plumage. The grass was
yellow and, in spike, looked like ripe rye. But, nevertheless, that dry
jungle obviously supplied food for a great number of animals, for
several times each day the travelers met considerable herds of
antelopes, hartbeests, and particularly zebras. The heat on the open
and treeless plain became unbearable. The sky was cloudless, the days
were excessively hot, and the night did not bring any rest.

The journey became each day more and more burdensome. In the villages
which the caravan encountered, the extremely savage populace received
it with fear, but principally with reluctance, and if it were not for
the large number of armed guards as well as the sight of the white
faces, the King, and Saba, great danger would have threatened the
travelers.

With Kali's assistance Stas