ill. Their stings are often as dangerous as the bites of poisonous

snakes."

I immediately gave a little dose of medicine to Ndova, but it did not seem to do him any good. That night we all went to sleep feeling very sad.

At break of day I went to Ndova to see how he was. I said, "Good-morning, Ndova," but he remained quiet in his little house. He did not come out, as he had always done before, and jump on my shoulder, and give a chuckle, which probably meant in the monkey language of the ndova tribe, "I am glad to see you." Instead of the chuckle I heard an indistinct sound, and he looked at me in a forlorn way as if to say, "I am very ill."

I felt his body. It was hotter than the day before, and his pulse beat so quickly that I felt he could not live much longer.

I shouted to Rogala: "Ndova is very, very ill; come and look at him;" and he came.

"Truly," he said, "Ndova is very, very ill indeed."

"If Ndova dies," I said, "we lose a very good friend who has been invaluable to us in this forest. Never shall we get another monkey as intelligent."

In the course of a few days poor Ndova had grown so thin that we could hardly recognize him. His eyes had entirely lost their mischievous expression, and could only give us a blank look. I put a little jacket on him which I made out of a woollen shirt. I made a little bed, shaking the leaves thoroughly, and laid him upon it, and covered him with what was left of the woollen shirt. Then I said: "Ndova, I am going into the forest to get berries for you."

When I returned I put some berries before his lips, but his mouth did not open to eat them. "Eat these, Ndova," I said to him; but he only answered me by a look. Before dark I went to say good-night to him, but he had not the strength to move his arms, which were under his little blanket. I tucked him in, and while I was doing so, his eyes looked at me in a blank sort of way. I said to him: "Dear Ndova, I wish you could know how much we think of you, and how we shall miss you if you die."

"I do not think we shall find Ndova alive to-morrow morning," I said to Rogala, who was by my side.

I went to bed with a heavy heart, thinking how many times Ndova had rescued us from hunger and perhaps starvation. I awoke several times during the night, and each time I got up and went to see if Ndova was dead. His life was ebbing away, his pulse was very low, but he still breathed.

In the morning I found Ndova dead. He looked as if he were asleep under his blanket. I shouted to Rogala: "Ndova is dead." Then we stood mournfully by his side, and Rogala said with a sad voice: "Ndova will follow us no more in the forest."

We cut a big log, split it in two, and dug a big hole inside. This was to be the coffin of Ndova, and we laid his body in it.

After this we dug a grave at the foot of a tree near Rogala's house and collected stones. When everything was ready, Rogala and I carried the coffin to the grave, followed by Shinshooko, Alapai, and Akenda-Mbani.

With my knife I carved upon the bark the following inscription:

HERE LIES NDOVA OUR FRIEND

Then we put the coffin into the grave, covered it with earth, and surrounded it by stones. My hunters and I hardly spoke to each other that day.