A TROPICAL JUNGLE. 91 



clutch ; adding, as an afterthought, that no 

 matter how long he stayed in the tropics his nose 

 peeled. We asked what we should do if we 

 over-carried our prospective landing-place. He 

 replied that the dod-blistered thing did have a 

 reverse. While thus conversing we shot around 

 a corner into a complete cul-de-sac ! Everything 

 was shut off hastily, and an instant later we 

 and the dhow smashed up high and dry on a 

 cozy mud beach ! We drew a deep breath and 

 looked around us. 



Mangrove thicket to the edge of the slimy 

 ooze ; trees behind that was all we could see. 

 We gave our attention to the business of getting 

 our men, our effects, and ourselves ashore. The 

 ooze proved to be just above knee deep. The 

 porters had a fearful and floundering time, and 

 received much obvious comment from us perched 

 in the bow of the launch. Finally everything 

 was debarked. F. and I took off our boots ; but 

 our gunbearers expressed such horror at the 

 mere thought of our plunging into the mud, 

 that we dutifully climbed them pick-a-back and 

 were carried. The hard shell beach was a hundred 

 feet away, occupying a little recess where the 

 persistent tough mangroves drew back. From 

 it led a narrow path through the thicket. We 



