While we talked we grew hungrier, and at length our stomachs became so craving that we could almost have eaten the gra.s.s! Fortune, however, proved kind to us, and saved us from becoming gra.s.s-eaters. Just as we were wondering what we could find to eat, we chanced to see a large bird stepping out of some trees into the open ground. It did not see us, for it was every moment coming nearer. It appeared to be browsing upon the gra.s.s, as it moved along; and thus busy seeking its own food, took no notice of anything else.

Ben had reloaded the "Queen Anne," after killing the lion. The ramrod had been crooked badly, but we had managed to get it straight again, so that it would serve; and in order to be prepared for anything, a fresh load had been rammed into the barrel.

Seeing the great bird coming so near, we quietly lay down, so as to hide our bodies in the gra.s.s--while Ben placed himself behind a small bush, through which he protruded the long barrel of the musket.

It seemed as if Providence had sent the bird for our supper; for the foolish creature walked straight on, until it was hardly a dozen yards from the muzzle of the "Queen Anne." Just then Ben pulled the trigger; and, notwithstanding the smallness of the shot, the great bustard--for it proved to be a bustard--was rolled over on the gra.s.s, as dead as a nail in a door. So said Ben as he picked it up, and brought it into our camp.

We now set to work upon the bird; and, after plucking, and cleaning it, we kindled a fire, and placed it in the blaze to roast. We might not have cooked it in the most elegant manner, and perhaps it was a little smoked; but if so, we did not notice this while eating it, for we both ate heartily, and thought it the most delicious morsel we had ever tasted. Certainly after the salt meat, to which we had been so long accustomed, a fresh bustard--which is one of the richest flavoured of game birds--could not be otherwise than a delicacy; and so much did we relish it, that before going to sleep we made a fresh onset upon the bird, and very nearly finished it, large as it was.

We washed the supper down with a drink of cool water from the crystal spring; and then we began to consider where we should stretch our bodies for the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

At first we were inclined to remain where we had cooked and eaten our supper. The water was convenient, and there was long bunch gra.s.s upon which we could rest very comfortably.

But although it was then warm enough, and we might have gone to sleep without feeling any cold, we knew it would be different towards the middle of the night. We knew this from the experience we had already had of this part of the country--for notwithstanding the great heat of the sun during the day, at night there were heavy dews, and the air was often foggy and chill. Some nights on board the barque we had found it cold enough for all the blankets we could get. Perhaps it was not absolutely so cold as we fancied it, for at this time I knew nothing about the thermometer. It is like enough that we felt the cold of the night more keenly, on account of its contrast with the great heat of the day; and as we were usually at hard work, and perspiring all day long, of course our blood was not prepared for the change.

That day had been a particularly hot one, and in walking over the palm-nuts, and toiling through thickets and other difficult places, we had been in a profuse perspiration all day long. As we had no blankets to cover us--nothing but our very lightest clothing--we would be likely to suffer during the night with the damp dew falling upon our bodies.

True, we had the lion's hide with us, but this, being fresh and still raw, would not greatly benefit us.

Under these circ.u.mstances it occurred to us that we might as well take shelter under some tree, which, if it failed to warm, would at least protect us from the falling dew.

We had already noticed a grove at some distance along the slope of the hill. It appeared to promise the very shelter we wanted, and taking up the gun, the lion-skin, what remained of the bustard, and some burning f.a.ggots to make a new fire out of, we proceeded in the direction of the grove.

This grove appeared of that kind usually termed a coppice or copse--such as may be often observed in English parks. It was of a circular form, and covered about half an acre of ground. None of the timber was tall-- not over thirty or forty feet in height, but as we drew nearer we could perceive that it was all of one sort. This we could tell by the leaves, which were very large and of a shining green colour. They were oblong, and each leaf was divided into five leaflets, that were placed in relation to each other like the fingers of a hand. Even the leaflets were like large entire leaves, and out of each bunch of leaves we could see that there grew a large white flower hanging upon a long pendulous flower-stalk with its top downward. These flowers gave the grove a very beautiful appearance--their splendid white corollas contrasting elegantly with the deep-green of the leaves.

All these matters we noted as we drew nigh, for although the sun had gone down, there was still light enough to view objects at a considerable distance.

We noticed nothing else about this little copse that appeared peculiar, until we had advanced close to its edge. We only observed that it was nicely rounded, just as if it belonged to some fine park and had been kept neatly trimmed by the pruning knife of the park-keeper, or some landscape gardener. Of course this was a peculiarity--considering that the grove grew in a wild uninhabited country, where no human hand ever interfered with it, as we supposed. But I had heard that such regularly formed copses are often met with in wild regions, both on the table plains of Southern Africa and the prairies of America, therefore there was nothing remarkable that they should be found in Central Africa as well.

On this account we had scarce made any remark about the singularity of its shape, but approached it with no other intention than to obtain shelter under it. Its dense foliage, promising protection from dew, or even rain, if it should fall, appeared to invite us; and we were resolved to accept its proffered hospitality.

It was only when we got very close to it, that we perceived the true nature of this singular grove--and then we noticed a peculiarity that astonished us. Instead of a grove covering nearly an acre of ground, as we had conjectured, you may fancy our surprise on perceiving that the hole copse consisted of but one tree!

Sure enough there was only one tree, and it was the vast umbrageous head of leaves and flowers that we had mistaken for a whole grove!

But such a tree was that! If we had been astonished by the dragon-tree, our astonishment was now more than doubled, on beholding the gigantic monarch of trees, that now spread widely before our eyes. The dragon-tree sank into a shrub in comparison with it.

If I were to give the dimensions of this enormous vegetable, I should scarce be credited, but fortunately its giant proportions do not rest on my authority alone. Trees of a similar kind, and of the very same species, have been described by botanists, and therefore their vast size is well-known to the scientific world.

The one discovered by Brace and myself had a trunk of full a hundred feet girth. I cannot speak exactly, as I had no measuring string, and it would have taken a pretty long cord to have gone round it: but Ben measured it carefully with his arms, and p.r.o.nounced it to be "twenty-five fadoms." Now Ben's "fadoms" were good fathoms, for he was a long armed man; and, therefore I conclude that the trunk was at least a hundred feet in circ.u.mference. At the height of about a dozen feet from the ground the trunk forked into a number of great branches, each of which was like a tree of itself; and, in fact, some of them were far thicker than most trees of the forest. These branches stretched out for many yards--at first horizontally, but as they tapered towards a point, they began gradually to curve downwards, until their extreme ends--the topmost twigs with their leaves--quite touched the earth. It was for this reason we had not been able to see the main trunk as we approached.

The foliage of the outer boughs concealed it from the view, and hence had we mistaken the single tree for a grove or coppice. It the more resembled this on account of its height; for, as already observed, its topmost branches did not exceed thirty or forty feet in clear alt.i.tude.

It was therefore not the tallest tree in the world, though it was certainly one of the thickest.

Now it so chanced that I knew what kind of tree it was--even to its name; my "wonder book" had not omitted to describe the vegetable curiosity. It was the great _baobab_.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

I knew that the tree had other names as well as baobab; that the negroes of Senegal call it the "monkey's bread-tree," the "sour gourd," and "lalo plant," and my book had been minute enough to give the botanical name, which is _Adansonia_--so called from a distinguished French botanist, of the name of Adanson, who, long ago, travelled through western Africa, and was the first to describe this wonderful tree. I even remembered Adanson's description of it, and his statement, that he believed there were some baobab trees five thousand years old, or coeval with the creation of the world. He had himself measured some of them seventy-five feet in girth, and had heard of others that exceeded one hundred! This I could now believe. I remembered, moreover, that he had stated, that the fruit of the tree was a large oblong body, full nine inches long, of a dull greenish colour, and covered over the surface with a h.o.a.ry down; that it was like a gourd, and when opened exhibited several cells, with hard shining seeds, immersed in a soft pulp; that out of this pulp, the natives, where the tree grew, manufactured an aciduous drink that was good for curing fevers; that the leaves when dried and bruised, were, by the same people, mixed with their food, to counteract too profuse perspiration; that moreover, the larger leaves are used for covering their huts, and out of the bark they manufactured a sort of cordage, and also a coa.r.s.e kind of cloth, which the poorer people wore around their thighs, forming a covering that reached from the waist to the knees. Vessels, also, were procured from the outside sh.e.l.l of the fruit, which served in the same manner as those obtained from the gourd or calabash-tree.

All these things did I remember at that moment, and intended to communicate them to my companion as soon as we had got fixed for the night; but as yet we had only arrived on the ground, and had learnt nothing more about the gigantic vegetable, than that it was all one single tree, for we could still make out the main trunk through the glimmer of the twilight. Of course the measurement made by Brace was an after performance, and was not done till long after we had arrived on the ground.

Well, we had arrived by this wonderful tree; and stooping down, and entering under its branches, we saw at a glance it was the very place for us to pa.s.s the night in. A house could hardly have served us better; and as for room there was enough to have accommodated the crew of a three-decker. It hardly mattered where we lay down--as under its wide-spread canopy there was ample choice, and nowhere was the dew likely to disturb our slumbers.

We were determined, however, to light a fire, for we were still in dread of the wild beasts. No wonder after such a day's adventures.

Though it was almost dark under the shadow of the tree, it was still twilight beyond, and there was yet light enough for us to collect fuel for our fire. So throwing down our lion-skin, and other impediments, we proceeded to gather the logs. At a short distance off, we found a quant.i.ty of dead timber, that would serve admirably for fuel, and three or four double armfuls would be sufficient.

We were not slow in bringing them up; and, choosing a place under one of the great horizontal limbs, we built our camp fire. The limb was so thick and broad underneath, that it formed a roof of itself ample enough to shelter us from any rain that might fall, and the ground underneath was as dry as tinder, so that we had every prospect of getting a comfortable night's rest.

We built our fire at some distance from the main trunk; and as soon as it was fairly kindled, we gave over work, and sat down beside it.

Ben had his clay pipe in his pocket; and, filling this with the narcotic weed, he set to smoking with great contentment. I was myself very happy. After my experience on board the barque, this free forest life was positively charming, and I thought I should like to continue it for ever. Though I did not join my companion in a smoke, I sat down opposite to him, and we both indulged in the pleasure of unrestrained conversation.

I have said that, when we first entered under the shadow of the baobab, it was quite dark there--just as dark as night itself--and we could not see six feet beyond our noses in any direction but soon the fire blazing up, enabled us to note our new quarters more particularly. We could see above our heads the long egg-shaped fruit hanging down from among the large leaves, while strewed over the ground were many that had fallen from over-ripeness, and the sh.e.l.ls of others that had opened, and shed their seeds, and were now dry and empty.

All these things were noticed in a few seconds of time--just while the f.a.ggots were beginning to blaze; but our attention was called away from such observations, and concentrated upon a single object, which at once created within us an eager curiosity.

This object was an odd appearance that presented itself on the trunk of the tree. Directly beyond the fire, but--as already stated--at some distance from it, rose the main trunk, like a vast wall. The bark was of a brownish grey colour, wrinkled and gnarled, and with many knots and inequalities over its surface. But in spite of this unevenness, as soon as the flames brightened up, we noticed four regular lines, or cracks, upon the trunk, meeting each other at right angles. These lines formed a parallelogram about three feet in length by two in breadth. The bottom line was about two feet above the surface of the ground; and the parallelogram itself was outlined lengthwise against the tree.

As soon as we set eyes upon it, we saw that such a regularly formed figure could not have arisen from any natural cause--the bark could not have split itself into so perfect a shape. It was clear that the thing was artificial--that is, that it had been done by the hand of man. In fact, as we observed it more minutely, we could tell that this had been so; for the marks of a knife or some other cutting instrument were discernible in the wood--though the work had been done long ago, and the colour gave no indication of when it had been done. The lines were of the same dull grey as the natural cracks on other parts of the tree.

Our curiosity being excited, my companion and I rose from the fire, and approached the great trunk to examine it. Had it been in an inhabited country we should have thought nothing of it--for then we should have fancied that some one had been cutting out figures in the bark of the tree for their amus.e.m.e.nt--perhaps some idle boys--as I have often done myself, and so had Ben, when he was an idle boy. But during all that day's ramble we had met with no human being, nor had we seen either sign or track of one; and we were pretty certain, from what we had been told, that this part of the country was altogether without inhabitants.

Therefore it was, that the figure cut upon the bark of the baobab surprised us--for this was a sign that human beings had been there before us--though it may have been ever so long before.

We approached the trunk then to examine it more closely.

As we came near, we observed that the lines were very deep--as if they had been cut into the wood--but beyond this there was nothing remarkable. There was no other carving, as we had expected,--nothing but this oblong figure, which had something of the shape of a small window or door. In fact, as we stood gazing at it, it suggested to us the idea of a little door that opened into the side of the tree, for the crack all round its edge looked black, as if we could see into some dark cavity beyond it.

This idea occurred to me as I stood gazing at it, and Ben had a similar fancy.

"Dang it, Will'm!" said he, stepping nearer to it, "it be a door, I believe," and then, leaning forward, and striking it with his fist, he exclaimed: "Shiver my timbers, if 'tan't a door! Listen, lad! d'ye hear that? it sounds as hollow as a empty cask!"

Sure enough, the stroke of the sailor's knuckles on the bark gave back a hollow report--quite unlike that which would have been made by striking the solid trunk of a tree. Moreover, we saw that the part which had been struck shook under the blow. Beyond a doubt the tree was hollow, and the part that had attracted us was neither more or less than a door cut in its side.

This point was at once settled; for Ben with another "shiver my timbers," raised his foot, and bestowed a l.u.s.ty kick upon the part that was loose. It instantly caved in, and exhibited to our astonished eyes a door in the side of the tree leading into a dark cavity beyond!

Ben immediately ran back to the fire; and taking up several of the blazing f.a.ggots--and placing them side by side, so as to form a torch-- returned with them to the trunk. Holding the torch before the mouth of the cavity, we peeped in, when a sight met our eyes that produced something more than astonishment--something very near akin to terror.

We both shared this feeling; and my companion, though a man, and a very brave man, was quite as much terrified as I. In fact, I saw that his frame shook all over, and his hands trembled in such a manner, that several of the f.a.ggots fell from his fingers, and he appeared for some seconds to hesitate whether he would not fling the torch away and take to his heels!

It is hardly to be wondered at, when one considers the strange sight that was revealed to our eyes. It would have tried the nerves of the boldest mortal that ever lived, to have looked into that dark tree-cave, without a previous knowledge of what was contained therein; and no wonder that Ben Brace uttered a wild exclamation, and stood shivering in speechless terror.

Within the trunk of the tree was a chamber. It was of square form, about six or seven feet in length, breadth, and height. It was no natural cavity of decayed wood, but had evidently been hollowed out by the hands of men, not very exactly, but roughly hewn as if by an axe.