In the Forests. 361 



sist me. The water was above my waist, and so strong that 

 I should certainly have been carried off my feet had I attempt- 

 ed to cross alone ; and it was a matter of astonishment to me 

 how the men could give me any assistance, since I found the 

 greatest difficulty in getting my foot down again when I had 

 once moved it off the bottom. The greater strength and 

 grasping power of their feet, from going always barefoot, no 

 doubt gave them a surer footing in the rapid water. 



After well wringing out our wet clothes and putting them 

 on, we again proceeded along a similar narrow forest track 

 as before, choked with rotten leaves and dead trees, and in the 

 more open parts overgrown with tangled vegetation. Anoth- 

 er hour brought us to a smaller stream flowing in a wide grav- 

 elly bed, up which our road lay. Here we staid half an hour 

 to breakfast, and then went on, continually crossing the stream, 

 or walking on its stony and gravelly banks till about noon, 

 when it became rocky and inclosed by low hills. A little fur- 

 ther we entered a regular mountain-gorge, and had to clamber 

 over rocks, and every moment cross and recross the water, or 

 take short cuts through the forest. This was fatiguing work ; 

 and about three in the afternoon, the sky being overcast, and 

 thunder in the mountains indicating an approaching storm, 

 we had to look out for a camping-place, and soon after reached 

 one of Mr. Rosenberg's old ones. The skeleton of his little 

 sleeping-hut remained, and my men cut leaves and made a 

 hasty roof just as the rain commenced. The baggage was 

 covei'ed over with leaves, and the men sheltered themselves 

 as they could till the storm was over, by which time a flood 

 came down the river, which effectually stopped our further 

 march, even had we wished to proceed. We then lighted 

 fires ; I made some coffee, and my men roasted their fish and 

 plantains, and, as soon as it was dark, we made ourselves com- 

 fortable for the night. 



Starting at six the next morning, we had three hours of 

 the same kind of walking, during which we crossed the river 

 at least thirty or forty times, the water being generally knee- 

 deep. This brought us to a place where the road left the 

 stream, and here we stopped to breakfast. We then had a long 

 walk over the mountain by a tolerable path, which reached 

 an elevation of about fifteen hundred feet above the sea. 



