CHAPTER 5 -The beasts of Tarzan

come. He explained the sail and his intentions fully to Mugambi, who was delighted with the prospect of being able to return to his own country.The canoe was drawn well up on the beach above the high water mark,and as Tarzan had had considerable experience in the building of small craft among the cannibals of the mainland, he felt no doubt but that he could fashion a seaworthy dugout with which to make the short journey to the coast.The following few days were occupied in preparing for their departure.
The first consideration was the procuring of weapons that might be relied upon in an encounter with the beasts of the jungle through which they must pass on their way to the coast. For this purpose Tarzan selected four spears of medium size, preferring them to the full-sized weapons of the warriors of Mugambi. The shorter weapons were lighter and more effective for use in the hand of a man swinging by a rope through the trees
of the forest. His next care was to secure arrows and a bow that would send them straight and true enough to carry a message of death to a savage foe. With these primitive weapons and a knowledge of the jungle that was born of years of experience in it, Tarzan felt that he might be more than a match for anything that he would be apt to meet upon the mainland.As Mugambi, who was again clothed in the apparel of his own country that constituted his entire wardrobe when he had set forth upon his ill-
starred journey, was unarmed and without means of procuring weapons,Tarzan presented him with the spear and bow and arrows which the apeman had brought with him from the mainland. Mugambi was much pleased with the gift, since he knew that it not only might mean much to him in the way of protection, but that it added not a little to his prestige
among the members of his own savage tribe–even though it had beenreduced to a membership of one by the carnivorous tastes of Sheeta, the panther.
At last all was ready. The craft, such as it was, lay upon the beach with her prow toward the water, and her sail hanging in lazy folds from the crude mast. Tarzan sought to detain her upon the soft sands, while with paddles Akut and he propelled her beyond the breaking surf. But even
The Beasts of Tarzan 45 before Akut and Tarzan had entered it, Mugambi had leaped to his place,having grasped the opportunity to make the return journey to his beloved
Ugambi and the wife and children who mourned him there as dead.