OTTER. 421 



small canoe to pass up, although the navigation 

 would be tedious, not only on account of the 

 strength of the current, but because the bed of the 

 river was studded with large boulders and ledges 

 of rock. 



About a mile past the falls, the river widened, 

 and we found it flowing over a bed of smooth round 

 stones and sand ; and here the water Avas alive with 

 fish, and I killed a poacher in the shape of a fine 

 dog-otter of a peculiar kind, which my Kroomen 

 ate, but unfortunately spoiled the skin. A little 

 further on, masses of granite gneiss overhung the 

 river like huge towers, and the tops of some of 

 them being covered with shrubs and creeping 

 plants, at a short distance they resembled old 

 ruined castles. 



After proceeding about four miles further, we 

 emerged from the thick bush, and found ourselves 

 in a prairie studded with small copses of arbo- 

 rescent shrubs covered with pink and white flowers, 

 from which the most delicious perfume filled the 

 air ;• and here I started a sounder of hog, and killed 

 two, as they were trotting slowly across the open. 



