In an hour the fire had extended through the woods for several miles. The howls, and shrieks, and bellowings of hyenas, jackals, lions, and tigers filled the air, as the frightened animals rushed out of the flaming forest. A huge black form would sometimes loom up against the red sky, and then seem to sink away into the darkness. This was an elephant seeking refuge from the flames. The hunters had watched the conflagration some time, when they saw the figure of a man running towards them from the burning woods. It was Mr. Reed! He had not been able to find the camp, he said, until the fiery forest had made everything so bright that he clearly saw the huts and tents from a long distance. It appeared that he had lost his way while botanizing, but had started on his return, confident he could follow his own trail back. But he soon saw what he considered to be a flower. If so, it was larger than any known to botanists. However he was not sure but it might be a brilliantly colored mushroom. He forgot everything while examining this, until, to his surprise, he found he could not see it. Night had come on! He collected a quantity of dry wood into a heap, and taking a match from his pocket applied it to the wood. This gave him a bright light for the further examination of the plant. He did not know how long it was after this that he discovered he was nearly surrounded by burning wood, and that the forest was roaring and crackling in front of him. He beat a retreat with all speed. [Illustration: THE FOREST FIRE.] And so it was, our absent-minded botanist who had got up this mighty conflagration, and frightened all the wild beasts out of their senses. It was lucky for him that he lighted the fire, otherwise it is more than probable some one of the wild beasts would have made short work of him in the course of the night. His next adventure was a very serious one, and yet it was very funny too. It happened when the expedition was returning to Cape Town. By that time Mr. Reed’s herbarium was filled with specimens. It was of more value, he said, than diamonds. He expected to astonish and delight the scientific world with that book of plants. He would never trust it to any one else for more than a few moments at a time. He slept with it under his pillow. And yet he allowed this precious book to be stolen from him. And by whom? By a baboon! In one of his fits of abstraction he had again wandered out of sight of his companions. He had the herbarium open, and, as he walked along, was studying his contents. Suddenly a great, black, hairy paw was thrust right under his nose, and the book snatched out of his hand in a twinkling.