In the afternoon they came to an encampment of ivory merchants, or rather to a village where several traders had a station for collecting their goods preparatory to starting for Gondokoro. The natives had brought in two or three dozen tusks of ivory, which were paid for in the usual currency of the country--beads, cloth, trinkets, and other "suc-suc," as goods for the African trade are called. [Illustration: TYING UP IVORIES FOR THE MARCH.] The boys were interested in looking at the piles of ivory lying on the ground and the men engaged in tying them up for transportation. The smaller tusks were tied in bundles of two or three, generally two, placed with the large end of one against the small end of the other, and then wrapped securely with strips of bark. The large tusks were wrapped singly, as they would make a load for one man, and sometimes a tusk of medium size was wrapped with a small one. To tie a bundle two men sat on the ground, and while one held the tusks firmly in place the other affixed the wrappings. The village consisted of a dozen or more huts, like enormous hay-cocks. They were made with a thick thatch of grass resting on a light but strong frame, and the work was so arranged that the thatch could be removed without difficulty, and leave the frame uncovered. This form of construction is found very convenient when it becomes necessary to move a village. The thatch is stripped off and thrown away, and the light frame, mounted on the heads of four or five negroes, is borne away as easily as though it were no more than a large basket. [Illustration: REMOVING A VILLAGE.] A day or two later our friends met one of these moving villages, and the youths had the opportunity of seeing the Africans on their march. Four men were carrying a house; one was dragging a bundle of withes used for interlacing the framework of the dwelling; another, with a long stick, was driving a couple of cows; another drove a sheep that was held by a string to prevent its straying; while two women carrying baskets brought up the rear. These people have few possessions, and therefore their changes of residence are easily performed. Doctor Bronson said he was reminded of the migrations of the roving Indians of the western part of the United States, where a village may be transferred from one spot to another at an hour's notice and leave scarcely a trace behind, except in the places where the tents had been pitched, and the piles of ashes where fires were kindled. One evening, while they were discussing their route and estimating the time it would take them to reach "Miani's Tree," Frank asked if they would go near the country of the Nyam-Nyams, the curious people described by the Italian explorer. "I am sorry to say it is out of our route," replied the Doctor. "It lies far to the west of where we are going, and therefore all that we learn about it we must take from others, and not from our own observation."