For eight days the boat drifted, carried by the current under the conditions already described. No incident of any importance occurred. For a space of many miles the river bathed the borders of superb forests; then the country, shorn of these fine trees, spread in jungles to the limits of the horizon.  
If there were no natives in this country—a fact which Dick Sand did not dream of regretting—the animals at least there. Zebras sported on the banks, , and "caamas," a species of which were extremely , and they disappeared at night to give place to the , whose could be heard, and even to the lions which bounded in the tall grasses. Thus far the had not suffered from these creatures, whether in the forests or in the river.
 
Meanwhile, each day, generally in the afternoon, Dick Sand neared one bank or the other, the boat, disembarked, and explored the shore for a short distance.
 
In fact, it was necessary to renew their daily food. Now, in this country, barren of all , they could not depend upon the tapioca, the sorgho, the , and the fruits, which formed the vegetable food of the native tribes. These plants only grew in a wild state, and were not eatable. Dick Sand was thus forced to hunt, although the firing of his gun might bring about an unpleasant meeting.
 
They made a fire by rubbing a little stick against a piece of the wild fig-tree, native fashion, or even simiesque style, for it is affirmed that certain of the a fire by this means. Then, for several days, they cooked a little or antelope flesh. During the 4th of July Dick Sand succeeded in , with a single ball, a "pokou," which gave them a good supply of venison. This animal, was five feet long; it had long horns provided with rings, a yellowish red skin, dotted with brilliant spots, and white on the stomach; and the flesh was found to be excellent.
 
It followed then, taking into account these almost daily landings and the hours of that were necessary at night, that the distance on the 8th of July could hot be estimated as more than one hundred miles. This was considerable, however, and already Dick Sand asked himself where this interminable river ended. Its course absorbed some small and did not sensibly enlarge. As for the general direction, after having been north for a long time, it took a bend toward the northwest.
 
However, this river furnished its share of food. Long lianes, armed with thorns, which served as fishhooks, caught several of those delicately-flavored "sandjikas", which, once smoked, are easily carried in this region; black "usakas" were also caught, and some "mormdes," with large heads, the genciva of which have teeth like the hairs of a brush, and some little "dagalas," the friends of running waters, belonging to the clupe species, and resembling the whitebait of the Thames.
 
During the 9th of July, Dick Sand had to give proof of extreme coolness. He was alone on the shore, carrying off a "caama," the horns of which showed above the . He had just shot it, and now there bounded, thirty feet off, a formidable hunter, that no doubt came to claim its , and was not in a humor to give it up. It was a lion of great height, one of those which the natives call "karamos," and not one of the kind without a mane, named "lion of the Nyassi." This one measured five feet in height—a formidable beast. With one bound the lion had fallen on the "caama," which Dick Sand's ball had just thrown to the ground, and, still full of life, it shook and cried under the paw of the powerful animal.
 
Dick Sand was , not having had time to slide a second into his gun.
 
Dick Sand, in front, lowering his voice, gave directions to avoid striking against these rotten constructions. The night was clear. They saw well to direct the boat, but they could also be seen.
 
Then came a terrible moment. Two natives, who talked in loud tones, were close to the water on the piles, between which the current carried the boat, and the direction could not be changed for a narrower pass. Now, would they not see it, and at their cries might not the whole village be alarmed?
 
A space of a hundred feet at most remained to be passed, when Dick Sand heard the two natives call more quickly to each other. One showed the other the mass of drifting herbs, which threatened to break the long liane ropes which they were occupied in stretching at that moment.
 
Rising hastily, they called out for help. Five or six other blacks ran at once along the piles and posted themselves on the cross-beams which supported them, uttering loud which the listeners could not understand.
 
In the boat, on the contrary, was absolute silence, except for the few orders given by Dick Sand in a low voice, and complete repose, except the movement of Hercules's right arm moving the ; at times a low from Dingo, whose held together with his little hands; outside, the of the water which broke against the piles, then above, the cries of the ferocious cannibals.
 
The natives, meanwhile, rapidly drew up their ropes. If they were raised in time the boat would pass, otherwise it would be caught, and all would be over with those who drifted in it! As for slackening or stopping its progress, Dick Sand could do neither, for the current, stronger under this narrow construction, carried it forward more rapidly.
 
In half a minute the boat was caught between the piles. By an unheard-of piece of fortune, the last effort made by the natives had raised the ropes.
 
But in passing, as Dick Sand had feared, the boat was deprived of a part of the grasses which now floated at its right.
 
One of the natives uttered a cry. Had he had time to recognize what the roof covered, and was he going to alarm his comrades? It was more than probable.
 
Dick Sand and his friends were already out of reach, and in a few moments, under the of this current, now changed into a kind of rapid, they had lost sight of the lacustrine village.
 
"To the left bank!" Dick Sand ordered, as being more . "The stream is again navigable."
 
"To the left bank!" replied Hercules, giving the oar a vigorous stroke.
 
Dick Sand stood beside him and looked at the surface of the water, which the moon lit up. He saw nothing suspicious. Not a boat had started in pursuit. Perhaps these had none; and at daybreak not a native appeared, either on the bank or on the water. After that, increasing their precautions, the boat kept close to the left bank.
 
During the four following days, from the 11th to the 14th of July, Mrs. Weldon and her companions remarked that this portion of the territory had decidedly changed. It was no longer a country; it was also a desert, and they might have compared it to that Kalahari explored by Livingstone on his first voyage.
 
The soil recalled nothing of the fertile fields of the upper country.
 
And always this interminable stream, to which might be given the name of river, as it seemed that it could only end at the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The question of food, in this desert country, became a problem. Nothing remained of their former stock. Fishing gave little; hunting was no longer of any use. Elks, , pokous, and other an............