There was a wild shout from the guides and others who accompanied them, and in a little while half a hundred and more of the people were around the dead lion. Great was their delight to find that their enemy had been slain, and they were ready to give the hunters anything they might ask. Fred suggested that the skin of the lion would make an admirable trophy. It was speedily removed, and the fleshy side covered with wood-ashes, to assist in its preservation. Our friends declined all other rewards for their services, and returned to the village, where their horses were waiting.
On their way back to the village, and just after recrossing the stream on the fallen tree, Fred managed to bring down a bird of a kind he had never seen before. The Doctor examined it, and remarked that it was something extraordinary.
GOATSUCKER ("COSMETORNIS SPEKII).
"It is found in several parts of Africa," said he, "and is ordinarily called a goatsucker, for the reason that it is erroneously supposed to obtain milk from goats after the manner of the young kid, and without the permission of their owners.
"The specimen you have just shot is called the Cosmetornis Spekii by the naturalists, as it was first described by the traveller Speke. The seventh pen-feathers are double the length of the ordinaries, the eighth is twice as long as the seventh, and the ninth is about twenty inches long. The bird belongs to the same family as the whippoorwill and night-hawk of North America. It rarely goes out by day, and it was quite accidental that you were able to secure this specimen."
The chief of the village insisted on their acceptance of a present of fresh fruit, as a token of friendship. Two enormous bunches of bananas were handed over to the servants to carry to camp, and then the hunters took their departure.