in the shallow water,
and the noise they made prevented their hearing the stealthy approach of
their enemies.

"You take the one nearest shore, Frank, I will take the other. Aim at
the forehead between the eyes. I will make a slight sound to attract
their attention."

Frank knelt on one knee and took steady aim. Mr. Goodenough then gave
a shout, and the two animals turning their heads stood staring at
the foliage, scarce a dozen yards away, in which the travelers were
concealed. The guns flashed at the same moment, and as if struck by
lightning the hippopotami fell in the stream. The explosive balls had
both flown true to the mark, invariably a fatal one in the case of the
river horse. Frank as he fired had taken another rifle which the Houssas
held in readiness for him, but there was no occasion for its use.
The Fans came running up, and on seeing the great beasts lying in the
stream, gave a shout of joy.

"That will do for this evening," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are large
beasts, and will give food enough for a week or ten days."

They then returned to the camp which, at the news brought by one of the
Fans, had already been deserted. Before the natives retired to sleep
the hippopotami had been cut up and carried to the camp. Portions
were already frizzling over the fires, other parts set aside for the
consumption of the next two days, and the rest cut up in strips to be
dried in the sun. The tongue of one was cut up and fried as a great
luxury for the white men's supper by Ostik. It is not often that the
natives of equatorial Africa are able to indulge in meat, and the joy
of the Fans at this abundant supply, and the prospect afforded them of
further good eating, raised their spirits to the highest extent.

Next morning at daybreak Mr. Goodenough and Frank set out from the camp.
Each carried a double barreled gun, and was accompanied by one of the
Houssas carrying his rifle and a butterfly net, and when three hours
later they returned to the camp for breakfast and compared their spoils
they found that an excellent beginning had been made. Nearly a score of
birds, of which several were very rare, and five were pronounced by
Mr. Goodenough to be entirely new, had been shot, and many butterflies
captured. Frank had been most successful in this respect, as he had come
across a small clearing in which were several deserted huts. This was
just the place in which butterflies delight, for, although many kinds
prefer t