THE STORY OF POLARGNO 241 TURTLES AND THEIR EGGS 265 A FEW VOLCANOES 269 THE ABSENT-MINDED BOTANIST 273 SOMETHING TRUE ABOUT THE MOON 282 A VOYAGE TO THE LOWER AMAZON 287 THE BEDOUIN ARABS 298 FOOL-HARDY CARL HOFER AND THE WATER LADY 302 WATER AND MILK FROM PLANTS 311 THE JOLLY CABORDMEN 317 TALES OUT OF SCHOOL. COLONEL MYLES’ ADVENTURES IN AFRICA AND INDIA. He had shot many a buffalo. Indeed he sometimes thought that he had shot too many, for out on our Western prairies it was often impossible for him to use the meat, or even to take the skins of the animals that fell before his generally unerring rifle. And the Colonel was very much opposed to the useless slaughter of wild animals. If the buffaloes did any harm while alive or could be put to any use when dead it was all very well to shoot them. Otherwise, not. And yet, whenever Colonel Myles saw a buffalo he could not help shooting at it, if he happened to have his gun with him. So he made up his mind that he would go abroad and hunt animals that ought to be killed. Now you understand how the Colonel happened to go to Africa. [Illustration: A COMFORTABLE TRIP.] His sporting experiences did not commence as soon as he set foot on “Afric’s burning shores,” and indeed it was several months before he could make all the arrangements for a trip through those portions of the country where wild and savage beasts, worthy the bullets of such a hunter, were to be found. Some parts of his journey were very pleasant, even when he saw no game, because of the novel modes of traveling. For instance he was carried many miles in a sort of portable lounge which was borne on the heads of four negroes. The Colonel lay at ease on this elevated conveyance, which had a little fence on each side to keep him from rolling off, and hoops so arranged that when it rained or the sun shone too brightly, a canopy might be thrown over him without interfering with his comfort. Here he could lie and read or smoke while his swift-footed bearers carried him along at a rate which would have obliged a horse to hurry himself considerably in order to keep up with them. Another time, accompanied by a number of negro soldiers, and preceded by a set of fantastic savages who danced before him with horns on their heads and shields and spears in their hands, he rode for many miles upon a well trained native bull.