composed of a few head, and among them two ostriches, but when they passed the last clump of trees and the elephant turned to the left, a different sight struck the eyes of the boy. At the distance of about a third of a mile he observed a large manioc field and at the border of the field between ten and twenty black forms apparently engaged at work in the field.
"Negroes!" he exclaimed, turning to Nell.
And his heart began to beat violently. For a while, he hesitated as to whether he should turn back and hide again in the acacias, but it occurred to him that, sooner or later, he would have to meet the natives in populated districts and enter into relations with them, and that the fate of the whole traveling party might depend upon how those relations were formed; so, after brief reflection, he guided the elephant towards the field.
At the same moment Kali approached and, pointing his hand at a clump of trees, said:
"Great master! That is a negro village and there are women working at the manioc. Shall I ride to them?"
"We will ride together," Stas answered, "and then you shall tell them that we come as friends."
"I know what to tell them, master," exclaimed the young negro with great self-assurance.
And turning the horses towards the workers, he placed the palms of his hands around his lips and began to shout:
"Yambo, he yambo sana!"
At this sound, the women engaged in hoeing the manioc field started up suddenly and stood as if thunderstruck, but this lasted only the twinkling of an eye, for afterwards, flinging away in alarm the hoes and baskets, they began to run away, screaming, to the trees amidst which the village was concealed.
The little travelers approached slowly and calmly. In
