CHAP. VII A RIVER OUT OF PLACE 115 



the tent and let the men rest under it during the heat of the 

 day, while I went on with a few others to search for water. 

 Just as we were preparing a slight shower of rain fell ; we 

 caught as much as we could and shared it. Omari refused to 

 take his share, and gave it to a porter. The drink, small 

 though it was, refreshed us somewhat, and we went on again. 

 I started ahead with Fundi and an Askari, and at length we 

 found some water in a swamp at the north end of the lake. 

 We fired a shot to announce the good news, and the two men 

 went back with water for the others. The porters soon arrived, 

 many of them without their loads, and we were soon revelling 

 in the luxury of abundance of water, after forty-one hours' total 

 abstinence. 



We had found water, but we had found more than we 

 wanted. Through the middle of the swamp there flowed a 

 river, which was too deep to wade, and too swift to swim. 

 It ought not to have been there, for we were now close 

 to a well-known road, and neither of the latest maps 

 showed any sign of a river at the place. But we did not 

 trouble about this : we drank what we wanted, and let the rest 

 run by. We could not understand whence the river came, and 

 at first we did not care ; but when, a few hours later, we pro- 

 posed to resume our march, we had to care. We found that 

 the river flowed from a gorge in the mountains and entered the 

 northern end of the lake ; we were therefore compelled to cross 

 it. Omari and I spent a couple of hours wading along the 

 hippopotamus paths, that ran like tunnels through the reeds, 

 in search of a place where we could cross. The only possible 

 ford was at the edge of a waterfall ; but the rocks were covered 

 with slime and algae, and a slip would have plunged us into a 

 pool and into the close company of some crocodiles. It is not 

 as a rule advisable to allow the fear of crocodiles to interfere 

 with plans, but in deep muddy water they are dangerous, and 

 neither of us chose to risk a fall into the pool below. We had 

 at last to recognise that it would be necessary to bridge the 

 river. We came to this decision very reluctantly, for there 

 was no food left, and the delay was serious. A clump of 

 acacias stood beside the camp, and men were set to fell timber 

 and hew it into a convenient shape. The men worked in 

 relays by firelight through the night, and in the morning the 



