Suddenly, on the right bank, was heard a distant hubbub, then a dull
noise as if giant pumps were working in the dark.
It was several hundred elephants, that, satiated by the woody roots
which they had devoured during the day, came to quench their thirst
before the hour of repose. One would really have supposed that all
these trunks, lowered and raised by the same automatic movement, would
have drained the river dry.
CHAPTER XVIII.
VARIOUS INCIDENTS.
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 abounded there. Zebras
sported on the banks, elks, and "caamas," a species of antelope which
were extremely graceful, and they disappeared at night to give place
to the leopards, whose growls could be heard, and even to the lions
which bounded in the tall grasses. Thus far the fugitives had not
suffered from these ferocious creatures, whether in the forests or in
the river.
Meanwhile, each day, generally in the afternoon, Dick Sand neared one
bank or the other, moored the boat, disembarked, and explored the
shore for a short distance.
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