Here they come! I can see them through the jungle, snorting unconsciously and eating what they have uprooted. How little do they think there are such formidable enemies close at hand! They came nearer and nearer. Then after looking at each other, as if to say, Is it time? we took steady aim, put our fingers on the triggers, and bang! bang! bang! our three guns went off at the same time, three wild boars biting the ground, and the others giving tremendous leaps. Four of them, crazy with fright, came rushing along, leaping over the trunk of the trees behind which we were hidden, and right above our heads. My goodness! if they had come down upon us they would have completely smashed us. I turned round, fired my second shot, and bagged another. “Four wild boars are killed!” we shouted with frantic joy! [Illustration: KILLING FOUR WILD BOARS.] What splendid animals two of them were! How big! The wild boars of the black forest in Germany could not have compared with them. This wild boar is a new species, and I have called it _Potamochœrus albifrons_: that is to say, white-fronted. What strange-looking animals! They had a long muzzle, and on each side there was a large warty protuberance half-way between the nose and the eyes. These, and a singular sort of bristle, surround the eyes. The ears, which are long and ended in tufts of coarse hair, give the animal a strange expression. The bodies of the boars were of the color I have mentioned. On my return to the United States, in 1860, I gave a full description of this curious animal, and of many others I discovered, before the Boston Society of Natural History. I have always retained a pleasant recollection of my visit to that society, of its president, Professor Jeffries Wyman, of its secretary, my friend Dr. Kneeland, and of many other members, who were very kind to me. But how to take away that meat? We could by no possible means carry the meat of four wild boars. So myself and Malaouen were to keep watch and sleep in the forest while Querlaouen would go and fetch the people to assist us. This _Potamochœrus albifrons_ is a great jumper. I have seen no antelope that could leap as it does; one day I saw three of them leap over the Ovenga River, the distance being thirty or forty yards. It was the dry season, and one of them fell into the water. The bank from which they sprung was much higher than the opposite one. [Illustration: [Fleuron]] [Illustration: [Fleuron]] CHAPTER XXVI. IN THE WILD FOREST.—HOSTILE TRIBES.—AN INTRENCHED CAMP.—FORAYS FOR PROVISIONS. I am in the midst of the densest and wildest part of the forest, situated not far from the Ashankolo Mountains. Who are these three wild-looking men that are with me? They are Querlaouen, Malaouen, and Gambo. What are we doing seated on the ground, each one of us seeming so thoughtful? We are holding a grand council.