for a friend and protector. Fritz thought we were very fortunate, then,
in having two such faithful dogs; he only regretted that our horses had
died on the passage, and only left us the ass.

"Let us not disdain the ass," said I; "I wish we had him here; he is of
a very fine breed, and would be as useful as a horse to us."

In such conversations, we arrived at the banks of our river before we
were aware. Flora barked to announce our approach, and Turk answered so
loudly, that the terrified little monkey leaped from his back to the
shoulder of its protector, and would not come down. Turk ran off to meet
his companion, and our dear family soon appeared on the opposite shore,
shouting with joy at our happy return. We crossed at the same place as
we had done in the morning, and embraced each other. Then began such a
noise of exclamations. "A monkey! a real, live monkey! Ah! how
delightful! How glad we are! How did you catch him?"

"He is very ugly," said little Francis, who was almost afraid of him.

"He is prettier than you are," said Jack; "see how he laughs! how I
should like to see him eat!"

"If we only had some cocoa-nuts," said Ernest. "Have you found any, and
are they good?"

"Have you had any unpleasant adventures?" asked my wife.

It was in vain to attempt replying to so many questions and
exclamations.