140 FROM OLEXDA TO MAYOLO. Chap. VIII. 



countries never before visited by a European, and I 

 was buoyed up by the hope of making new dis- 

 coveries. I and my men left Olenda at four o'clock 

 in the afternoon ; our j^orters were to start with 

 Ondonga at daylight the next morning. 



As my readers may perceive on examining the 

 map, my route, on leaving Olenda, was a different 

 one from that followed on my former journey. I 

 was then bound for the Apingi country to the 

 north-east of Olenda ; my present destination was 

 Otando, lying south-east by east of the Ashira 

 villages. 



About a mile or so east of Olenda commences the 

 great forest which bounds the eastern side of the 

 Ashira prairie ; and just within its borders flows the 

 impetuous Ovigui. This river descends from the 

 slopes of the Igoumbi Andele Mountains, south of 

 Ashira-land, and skirts the western foot of the hilly 

 range which separates the Ashira from the Otando 

 country. It drains, with its numerous tributaries, the 

 whole of the valley enclosed between the wooded 

 ranges east and west of ihe Ashira prairie. I crossed 

 it at a different place from that described in my 

 former journey, but by a similar bridge — a slippery 

 log lying across the torrent, with a rope of lianas 

 stretched from tree to tree to hold on by. There 

 had been a very heavy rain the previous night, and 

 the Ovigui had overflowed its banks, forming three 

 channels separated by islands. Many a tall tree stood 

 in the water, and fallen trunks and branches were 

 washed down, or lay stranded and quivering in the 

 current. In crossing I had a mishap, for, before I 



