THE INDIAN OCEAN. 65 



sionaUy able to peep under the edge of this 

 coverlet, and see where the fringe of the jungle 

 drew back in a little pocket, or to catch the sheen 

 of mysterious dark rivers slipping to the sea. 

 Up these dark rivers, by way of the entrances of 

 these tiny pockets, the imagination then could 

 lead on into the dimness beneath the sunlit upper 

 surfaces. 



Towards the close of one afternoon we changed 

 our course slightly, and swung in on a long slant 

 towards the coast. We did it casually ; too casu- 

 ally for so very important an action, for now at 

 last we were about to touch the mysterious con- 

 tinent. Then we saw clearer the fine, big groves 

 of palm and the luxuriance of the tropical vege- 

 tation. Against the greenery, bold and white, 

 shone the buildings of Mombasa ; and after a 

 little while we saw an inland glitter that 

 represented her narrow, deep bay, the stern of a 

 wreck against the low, green cliffs, and strange, 

 fat-trunked squat trees without leaves. Straight 

 past all this we glided at half speed, then turned 

 sharp to the right to enter a long wide expanse 

 like a river, with green banks, twenty feet or so in 

 height, grown thickly with the tall cocoanut palms. 

 These gave way at times into broad, low lagoons, 



at the end of which were small beaches and boats, 



3 



