"'I am a prince of the Touaregs; I have been in Paris, and know the whole country of France, and I know the Sultan of the Christians. I know you, and have seen you; you are a Christian, and a Frenchman or an Englishman.' "Rohlfs assured the man that he was neither French nor English; but the latter was so certain about it that he went to the Prince of Tidikelt and stated his suspicions that Rohlfs was a French spy, who had come to see what the land contained. Fortunately, the prince did not believe him; and when Rohlfs spoke about the matter the prince replied that he was certain he would not have been able to get a letter of recommendation unless he had been a Moslem. He added, 'If a Christian should come into our land provided with letters from the Sultans of Stamboul and Morocco, I should at once hand him over to the people, for we don't want any Christians here.' "The answer was not at all encouraging, as it showed the great danger he was in. He would gladly have left at once, but could not do so, as the mere fact of his trying to escape would only strengthen the suspicion against him. So he put on a brave front, and by the practice of his medical skill and careful attendance to the religious ceremonies he managed, in the course of a month or so, to get on friendly terms with everybody once more. Then he continued his journey, and in due time reached the regions where Christians were safe. [Illustration: SCENE NEAR LAKE TCHAD.] "In his journey from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Guinea Dr. Rohlfs had many narrow escapes, not only from the hostility of the natives, but from fevers and other diseases which have caused the death of so many explorers. In the neighborhood of Lake Tchad, during the period of the inundation of the flat country surrounding it, he was obliged to travel for several days where the water was five or six inches deep, and frequently he was forced to wade where it rose to his waist. He suffered much from fever caught in this region; and so unhealthy was the locality that several of his Arab companions died from the diseases contracted there. He was the first European to make the complete journey over the route he followed, and it was nearly two years from the time he started from Tunis till he arrived at the Gulf of Guinea. "After leaving the Niger he traversed a part of the kingdom of Dahomey, but did not visit its capital. Do you know for what Dahomey is famous?" "Yes," replied Fred; "at least, I know one thing which travellers have mentioned--it has an army of women instead of men." [Illustration: AN AMAZON OF DAHOMEY.]