96 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



ear ; it is indefinable and might result from the leaves 

 having a suppressed conversation with each other, 

 gradually it becomes more marked, and is sufficiently 

 pronounced to be adjudged the answering cooing 

 notes of numerous doves responding to each other, 

 gradually this soothing sound dies away or gives 

 place to the shuffling cadence that ever heralds the 

 advent of a party of natives whose feet are protected 

 by sandals. Umpiqua raises himself and points em- 

 phatically to the northward. Over the brush and 

 bush appears what might well be mistaken for the 

 masts of a wreck with any amount of hamper adher- 

 ing to their tops, but this illusion vanishes when it 

 is observed how those supposed spars sway to and 

 fro, and then you are aware to a certainty that the 

 ocean is not within a hundred miles of your position. 

 At length the big eyes, w T ell developed ears, and 

 graceful neck with its numerous brilliant and regu- 

 larly distributed spots become thoroughly defined, 

 and I recognise that the tallest of all terrestrial 

 animals are approaching rapidly towards our hiding 

 place. Dillon's thin lips look set, and tell plainly 

 that he is prepared for contingencies, in a minute — 

 after having drawn a long respiration — I withhold 

 my breath, and am ready for immediate work. The 

 giraffes are in front of us, an old cow leads, then 

 follow several matrons w T ith babies close at their 

 heels, finally, bringing up the rear is the pater- 

 familias, the lord of the seraglio. Into the second 



