"Not exactly an army of women instead of men," said Doctor Bronson, "but an army of both. The Amazons, as the feminine warriors are generally termed, are in a separate division; and, according to Captain Burton, who has visited the country, they take precedence and insist that they shall be called men. They have officers of the same rank as the other portion of the army, and these officers are always of their own sex. There are about three thousand of these Amazons, and they are armed, as far as possible, with the same weapons as the men. They are said to be the bravest portion of the army, and are the great reliance of the king whenever a fortified place is to be attacked." One of the boys asked how they were recruited. "As to that," was the reply, "the whole population is liable to military duty, and the king can call to arms every person in his dominions who is able to enter the military ranks. Before a girl can be married she is taken before the king, and if he likes her looks she is at once enlisted for a soldier, and that is the end of the proposed match. The Amazons are not allowed to marry, and any man who asks one of them to do so is in danger of losing his head. Most of them are so old and ugly that they are not in danger of any one falling in love with them. Captain Burton says they are generally larger than the men, more capable of enduring fatigue, and, as far as his observation went, they make better soldiers. "There is a good deal of romance about the kingdom of Dahomey," the Doctor continued. "It is a country with less than half a million inhabitants, few manufactures, little commerce, and under the rule of a treacherous and tyrannical king. Human sacrifices were formerly very frequent, but within the last twenty years they have been mostly suppressed, through the influence of the British, who invaded the country in consequence of an insult to their consul at Lagos. The country abounds in wild beasts of nearly all the kinds known in Africa, and it is said that the boa-constrictor in Dahomey grows to an enormous size. We are not likely to visit the country, and so it will not make much difference to us whether they are large or not." The conversation was again interrupted by Abdul, who came to say that he thought one of the horses was suffering from the bite of the tsetse-fly, and was afraid they might lose it. "I have been fearing for some time," said the Doctor, "that as soon as we entered the region of the tsetse-fly we should lose the horses. We are not fairly in its range at present, and I hope the report that the horse has been bitten by one of these pests is incorrect." The incident naturally changed the topic of discussion. Doctor Bronson gave a brief account of one of the dreads of all African travellers. It will be found more fully described in the first volume of Dr. Livingstone's travels. [Illustration: 1, THE TSETSE. 2, THE SAME, MAGNIFIED. 3, ITS PROBOSCIS.]