[Illustration: [Fleuron]] [Illustration: [Fleuron]] CHAPTER XXVII. WE DISCOVER HUMAN FOOT-PRINTS.—WE SPY OUT THE ENEMY.—A FEMALE GORILLA.—MATERNAL FONDNESS. One morning, just at daylight, Querlaouen and I, without saying a word to Gambo and Malaouen, scaled our palisade with the ladder and went to look after the traps we had made for the monkeys, in order to see if we had caught some more. We were going silently into the forest, and as noiselessly as we could, in the hope of seeing an antelope or wild boar, or some other kind of wild animal on our way. At last we reached the banks of a little stream, situated, as I judged, about six or seven miles from our camp, when lo! Malaouen and I saw what threw us into a great state of excitement. Human foot-prints! Yes, there was no mistake about it; there were eight foot-prints in the mud on the banks of the creek, and these were the marks of four men who had been there. They were fresh tracks. Who were they? Were they warlike Bakalais of the Ashankolo country? Were they enemies or friends? [Sidenote: _WE DISCOVER FOOT-PRINTS._] Querlaouen and I looked in each other’s face without saying a word, and by instinct both of us looked most carefully at our guns, and we began to mistrust every tree around us, for some one might be hiding behind them, and getting ready to send a bearded spear through us. [Illustration: WE DISCOVER FOOT-PRINTS.] We did not like at all the idea of people being in our hunting-ground, but we liked still less the idea that these people might be our enemies. My pair of revolvers were in good order, and I do not know why, but I always felt very strong and reckless when I had them with the belt holding them round my waist, and that very morning I felt confident and secure. After consultation, we concluded that we would follow the foot-prints to the point they had come from, which we did, and at last reached a spot where we saw a small canoe tied to a tree. This canoe certainly did not belong to any people we knew, and consequently must come from some far village situated on the very head-waters of the Ovenga River, and belonged no doubt to those savage and warlike Bakalai inhabiting that wild mountainous region. Our great object was to prevent them from following our tracks, and thus finding our camp. What was to be done? Our foot-prints were mixed with theirs, and my shoes had left unmistakable marks of their heels and soles, and I wondered what those fellows would think in seeing them. My only hope was that they would be seized with terror, and that in those marks they might see the tokens of a mighty spirit. Close by, entering into that creek, there was a beautiful little rivulet of clear water, whose pebbly bed suggested to me that we had better follow its course, and then make a short cut and find our way the best we could.