country steadily became more broken and irregular,
the hills higher and more precipitous, with frequent outcrops of
enormous granite boulders and towering cliffs of felspar, from the
interstices of which sprang strange and beautiful ferns, interspersed
with bushes bearing flowers of remarkable shapes and the most splendid
colours. The trees, too, grew more closely together: the streams
increased in number, many of them pouring down the face of the cliffs in
the form of waterfalls, which dissolved into spray and mist long before
they reached the bottom, veiling the dark and rugged rocks in soft
clouds of delicate vapour reflecting every hue of the rainbow. In
short, with every mile of our advance the scenery grew more wildly and
romantically beautiful, yet withal there were spots, deep narrow glens
and ravines shut in by towering cliffs and overshadowing trees, where
the effect was as weird as a scene copied from Dante's Inferno, and in
the midst of which one felt that the strangest happenings would have
excited no surprise.

It was in the midst of such a scene that we again encountered the
gigantic man-like monkeys, which, I subsequently learned, formed part of
the fauna peculiar to this remarkable country. There were two of them
this time, a male and a female, and they were coming toward us when we
sighted them. The instant that they caught sight of us, the female
turned and ran for the face of the nearest cliff, which she scaled with
incredible agility; but the male halted and stood his ground, evidently
prepared to dispute our passage, if necessary, and to cover his
companion's retreat. But I had no fancy for engaging in a fight with a
creature which was such a strange and unnatural compound of man and
beast. I therefore spoke a word to Piet, and we reined up; whereupon
the creature, after much snarling, growling, and baring of teeth, slowly
retreated, following his mate, but keeping a wary eye upon us meanwhile,
until he too reached the foot of the cliff, when, with a parting snarl
of defiance, he climbed the vertical face of the rock with an agility no
less extraordinary than that displayed by his mate.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

I LEARN SOME INTERESTING PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE QUEEN.

It was a little after ten o'clock on the following morning when Piet and
I, mounted as usual, and riding about a mile ahead of the wagon, emerged
from a narrow, winding gorge, hemmed in on either hand by stupendous,
almost