The sight of these footmarks led us to glance back at our own tracks, and I was rather dismayed to see how extraordinarily distinct they were. In the darkness we had evidently strayed from the path which the caravan had traversed, on to one even more unfrequented, where the smooth surface left by the last rains on the light, loamy soil had not been disturbed, except by the wild beasts, and the deep and sharp impressions of our feet stood out as plainly as on a sandy shore when the tide has just gone out. Hence, if we were pursued, there could be no difficulty in tracing us, for our tracks were as characteristic as they were conspicuous; my own bare feet with the toes turned out, unlike those of a negro, and Aminé’s round-toed sandals, could be identified at a glance. And that we should be pursued I had little doubt, for Aminé was probably worth as much as any other three of the slaves, and Sálifu Sókoto was not the man to let her go, within a day’s march of Sálaga, without an effort at recapture. But if we were pursued we should probably be overtaken, for we had not travelled above a dozen miles in the night, and we were now spent with fatigue, whereas our pursuers would be fresh from a night’s rest, and had a horse into the bargain. It was thus clear that our only chance lay in breaking our tracks, and the stream that we were approaching seemed to offer us the means of doing this. I stood at the edge of the little river and looked across. On the opposite side the same soft, smooth surface could be seen stretching away under the little bare trees like a level sand-flat; but less than half a mile away, the rocky face of an isolated hill rose above the tree tops. That hill would probably serve our purpose. I led Aminé into the middle of the stream to where a large boulder stood up above the surface. “Aminé,” I said. “I am going away towards that hill, and I shall be some time gone. Sit down upon this stone, and do not move until I come back unless thou seest someone coming this way, in which case thou must walk down the middle of the stream, but do not for any reason leave the water. Now give me thy sandals, and I will go.” She sat down on the boulder and took off her sandals, handing them to me with a look of surprise, but without remark; and I at once crossed the stream and struck out through the trees towards the hill. As I strode along I selected the smoothest and softest patches of ground to walk over, and the tracks that marked my progress were as conspicuous as those in newly fallen snow.