An Excursion, 889 



and commenced our inland journey against a very powerful 

 current. The stream was about a hundred yards wide, and 

 was generally bordered with high grass, and occasionally 

 bushes and palm-trees. The country round was flat and 

 more or less swampy, with scattered trees and shrubs. At 

 every bend we crossed the river to avoid the strength of the 

 current, and arrived at our landing-place about four o'clock 

 in a torrent of rain. Here we waited for an hour, crouching 

 under a leaky mat till the Alfuros arrived who had been sent 

 for from the village to carry my baggage, when we set oflF 

 along a path of whose extreme muddiness I had been warned 

 before starting. 



I turned up my trowsers as high as possible, grasped a 

 stout stick to prevent awkward falls, and then boldly plunged 

 into the first mud-hole, which was immediately succeeded by 

 another and another. The mud or mud and water was knee- 

 deep, with little intervals of firmer ground between, making 

 progression exceedingly difiicult. The path was bordered 

 with high rigid grass, growing in dense clumps separated by 

 water, so that nothing was to be gained by leaving the beat- 

 en track, and we were obliged to go floundering on, never 

 knowing where our feet would Test, as the mud was now a 

 few inches, now two feet deep, and the bottom very uneven, 

 so that the foot slid down to the lowest part, and made it 

 difficult to keep one's balance. One step would be upon a 

 concealed stick or log, almost dislocating the ankle, while 

 the next would plunge into soft mud above the knee. It 

 rained all the way, and the long grass, six feet high, met over 

 the path ; so that we could not see a step of the way ahead, 

 and received a double drenching. Before we got to the vil- 

 lage it was dark, and we had to cross over a small but deep 

 and swollen stream by a narrow log of wood, which was 

 more than a foot under water. There was a slender shaking 

 stick for a hand-rail, and it was nervous work feeling in the 

 dark in the rushing water for a safe place on which to place 

 the advanced foot. After an hour of this most disagreeable 

 and fatiguing walk we reached the village, followed by the 

 men with our guns, ammunition, boxes, and bedding, all more 

 or less soaked. We consoled ourselves with some hot tea 

 and cold fowl, and went early to bed. 



