The sun was just setting when we reached another hamlet, consisting of large decent-looking huts, and filling us with almost confident hope that we might there find comfortable quarters; but we soon convinced ourselves that here also not a human being was left behind. Only a group of five antelopes (_oryx_), called here “tétel,” with their erect horns, were fearlessly standing at a little distance, and staring at us. It was the first time I had seen this handsome animal in a wild state, though I afterwards found it to be very frequent in this country, and even fell in with it along the komádugu of Bórnu. Having convinced ourselves that the well was dry, and not thinking quarters in a desolate village very safe in such a country, we pursued our march, entering again a dense forest where a great deal of rain seemed to have fallen, so that I was even enabled to water the horse, although the danger from wild beasts could not but be greatly increased by the presence of the aqueous element. After a march of two miles more, the evening being very dark, we thought it more prudent to halt for the night; we therefore chose a small place free from wood, put our luggage, camel, horse, and sheep in the middle, and assigned to each of ourselves one of the corners, where we were to keep up a fire. We had, however, scarcely begun to look around the neighbourhood for dry firewood, when the tumultuous cries of wild beasts broke forth from different quarters of the dense forest; and I was obliged to fire some shots before we were able to light a moderate fire, when, throwing the firebrands before us as we proceeded, we were enabled to collect a tolerable quantity of dry wood. However, it was with some difficulty that I prevailed upon my young and inexperienced companions to make up their minds to keep alternate watches during the night, and keep up the fires, more especially as, on account of a north-east wind which sprung up about midnight, the wood was rapidly consumed. I had prudently provided myself with a number of cartridges, when I was suddenly startled by the rushing in of two hyænas, which seemed to have silently approached under cover of the wood, and almost succeeded in carrying off our sheep. But one of them paid with its life for its audacity; and now throwing firebrands, then firing a shot, we succeeded in keeping the wild beasts at a respectful distance during the remainder of our restless halt here.