40 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
his wounds. The men worked hard all day, and succeeded 
by afternoon in building an excellent raft, out of four eight- 
gallon wooden water-barrels, splicing them to logs. They 
also got the heavy three-stranded rope across, and made it 
taut; but, alas! they could not hold their raft at all by 
the rope when they reached the middle of the stream, on 
account of the terrific force of the current. We all re- 
turned disappointed, and I made up my mind that we must 
find some other crossing. 
“ August 28. We tried a place still further south of our 
camp, where the stream is narrower. The boys cut down 
a steep bank to gain access to the water’s edge, but 
towards afternoon the stream rose a foot, and we could do 
nothing. I still have hopes of crossing in this neighbor- 
hood, but it will be a hard struggle. My boys deserve the 
greatest praise for the manner in which they have gone to 
work and for their patience. My gun-bearer, Karsha, who 
is an excellent shot, brought in a water-buck. 
“ August 29. I let some of the men continue their work 
where they left off last night, while some of us explored 
the banks of the river in both directions, Fred and my 
head man making a journey to the north, while I explored 
the bank of the stream ten miles lower down. I found a 
place six miles south of our camp, where the stream was 
very deep and rapid, and only forty yards wide. I thought 
it might be managed to pull the camels across here, so I 
returned to camp to prepare for the move to-morrow, and 
to hear Fred’s report. Fred said he had gone a long way 
up the river, and that it would be impossible to cross. 
“ August 30. We marched down to the narrow part of 
the river I discovered yesterday, and after tiffin started the 
work of crossing once more in earnest. A huge rope was 
stretched across the stream, and from this another was sus- 
pended by a loop. A camel was brought down, a barrel 
