"All right, Nick," said Wilmore. "Now then, about these parrots. They're very shy chaps, and will keep out of shot, if they can; and we mustn't throw away powder by firing, unless with a pretty safe prospect of bringing one down. I think I'll creep round, and hide behind that big trunk yonder. Then you shy a stone up into the tree in which they are sitting, and they'll most probably fly out into the open, and give me a good shot." Wilmore and Gilbert conducted their joint manoeuvres with so much skill, that before supper-time, half a dozen good-sized parrots had been bagged, and their flesh when boiled was pronounced by all to be excellent. After supper the doctor informed the party that Omatoko, as he called himself, had now quite recovered his senses, and had held a long conversation with him; the particulars of which he was ready to communicate, if they wished to hear it. "Hear it? to be sure we do," said Nick. "I've been longing to learn all about it, and if I had had any idea that he would have been able to talk, I shouldn't have gone out parrot shooting." "You wouldn't have understood what he said," observed Lavie. "He told his story in Dutch. His knowledge of English was very small when he came to try it. He says he belonged to a tribe that formerly lived a good way to the south of this--not far from the mouth of the Gariep, I fancy, from his description. There were a good many farms belonging to Dutch owners in the neighbourhood; but Omatoko's was a powerful tribe, and they seem for a good many years to have lived unmolested by their European neighbours. But about fourteen or fifteen years ago, some Englishmen--traders probably sent by some commercial house--landed near their village, and offered them more liberal terms for their skins and ivory than the Dutch had allowed. Finding the trade profitable, the English returned in the following year, and by-and-by ran up a few huts, where they carried on what promised to be a very lucrative business. It was from them that Omatoko picked up the few words of English which he knows, and he appears to have contracted a great liking for them." "Of course he did," said Frank, "old England against the world!" "With all my heart, Frank," rejoined the doctor, "only the English are not always remarkable for making themselves popular. Well, the trade went on increasing, until it roused the jealousy of the Dutch. They didn't fancy not being able to buy hides and tusks at the old prices, and besides, were jealous of the English attempting to settle in the country." "Ay, to be sure," said Warley, "the time you speak of must have been a year or two before the conquest of the colony by our troops."