might retreat in any extreme danger, and where we should be very thankful, in case of such a retreat, to possess means of obtaining a constant supply of animal food. I ministered to the wants of the antelopes, and just then the mother summoned us to dinner. The principal dish in this meal consisted of bears' paws--most savory smelling delicacies, so tempting that their close resemblance to human hands, and even the roguish "Fee-fo-fum" from Jack, did not prevent a single member of the family from enjoying them most heartily. Supper over, we lit our watch fire, retired to our tent, and slept soundly. We had been working very diligently; the bears' meat was smoked, the fat melted down and stored, and a large supply of bamboos collected. But I wished to make yet another excursion, and at early dawn I aroused the boys. Fritz mounted the mule, I rode Lightfoot, Jack and Franz took their usual steeds, and, with the two dogs, we galloped off--first to visit the euphorbia to collect the gum, and then to discover whether an ostrich which we had found previously had deserted her eggs in the sand. Ernest watched us depart without the slightest look or sigh of regret, and returned to the tent to assist his mother and study his books. Our steeds carried us down the Green Valley at a rapid rate, and we followed the direction we had pursued on our former expedition. We soon reached Turtle Marsh, and then filling our water flasks, we arrived at the rising ground. As Jack and Franz wanted to gallop, I allowed them to press forward, while Fritz and I visited the euphorbia trees. A quantity of the red gum had exuded from the incisions I had made, and as this had coagulated in the sun, I rolled it into little balls and stored it in a bamboo jar I had brought with me for the purpose. As we rode after the boys, who were some way ahead, Fritz remarked: "Did you not tell me that the juice of that tree was poisonous, father; why have you collected such a quantity?" "I did indeed say so," I replied; "it is a most deadly poison. The inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope use it to poison the springs where wild animals assemble to quench their thirst; and they thus slaughter an immense number of the creatures for the sake of their hides. I intend, however, to use it to destroy the apes should they again commit depredations, and also in preparing the skins of animals to protect them from the attacks of insects." The two boys were still at some distance from us, when suddenly four magnificent ostriches rose from the sand where they had been sitting.