CHAPTER XXVIL 
WE DISCOVER HUMAN FOOT-PRINTS.—WE SPY OUT THE EN- 
EMY.—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. noise- 
lessly 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 coun- 
try? Were they enemies or friends? 
(uerlaouen and I looked in each other’s face without 
saying a word, and by instinct both of us looked most 
