“Right you are, Professor!” exclaimed Fritz gaily, the words producing quite a sensation on the whole attentive family. “From fifteen to twenty elephants were feeding peacefully on the leafy boughs, tearing down branches with their trunks and shoving them into their mouths with one jerk, or bathing in the deep waters of the marsh for refreshment in the great heat. You cannot imagine the wild grandeur of the scene! The river being very broad, I felt safe from wild animals, and more than once saw splendid jaguars crouched on the banks, their glossy skin glancing in the sunlight.
“While considering if it would be simply fool-hardy to try a shot at one of these creatures, I was suddenly convinced that discretion is the better part of valour, and urging my canoe into the centre current, made a rapid retreat down the river. For just before me, in the calm deep water of a sheltered bay where I was quietly floating, there arose a violent boiling, bubbling commotion, and for an instant I thought a hot spring was going to burst forth—instead of that, up rose the hideous head and gaping jaws of a hippopotamus, who, with a hoarse terrific snort, seemed about to attack me. I can tell you I did not wait to see the rest of him! a glimpse of his enormous mouth and its array of white gleaming tusks was quite enough. ‘Right about face!’ said I to myself, and shot down the stream like an arrow, never pausing till a bend in the river brought me within sight of the Gap, where I once more felt safe, and joyfully made my way back to you all.”
This narrative was of thrilling interest to us, proving the existence of tribes of the most formidable animals beyond the rocky barrier which defended, in so providential a manner, the small and fertile territory on which our lot was cast.
During the absence of the adventurer we had been busily engaged in making preparations for our departure—and everything was packed up and ready by the morning after his return.
