The Shade of the Virgin Forest 241 



The road which connects the stations, the barrabarra, may 

 best be compared to a woodland path or lane. It winds through 

 the great African forest, about four metres in breadth, unbroken 

 by any glade, the smaller trees and the undergrowth simply 

 having been cut away. The larger trees remain, and create no 

 obstacles, as the only part which is used is a well-trodden footway 

 in the centre. The negro always marches in single file. Should 

 one of the giants of the forest crash down and block the road- 

 way, it is usually left lying, as to clear it away would necessi- 

 tate a good deal of trouble, hardly proportionate to the benefit 

 accruing to the roadway. A short detour is usually made around 

 the obstacle by cutting a small bypath in the interior of the 

 forest or by building an extempore bridge across it or by making 

 steps. The bridges over the numerous small brooks and through 

 swampy dips are the vulnerable points of the route. In parts 

 they are simply corduroy roads, though often sturdier trunks are 

 laid lengthways, with round logs and boughs lying across them, 

 the gaps being stopped with clay and earth. These construc- 

 tions are deserving of all praise and are quite practicable for 

 pedestrians and, if of recent construction, even for horsemen. 

 Unfortunately, however, they are also used by passengers for 

 whom they are absolutely not intended, namely, by elephants. 

 The constructions, which, after all, are only primitive negro 

 handwork, are naturally not adapted for such weights, and thus 

 the older bridges and dams sometimes seem to consist of " a 

 number of holes joined together." 



Our marches proceeded monotonously from station to station, 

 and the longer we travelled without incidents worthy of remark 

 the deeper was the impression made upon us by the great forest. 

 I believe a long stay in this forest would lead to heavy mental 

 depression in sensitive men. The unutterable feeling of oppres- 

 sion which makes itself felt in the course of time lies in the 

 absence of any free view, the impossibility of permitting the eye 

 to rove freely across a wide space, or of once catching a glimpse 

 of sky and earth merging in the far horizon. Only a short 



stretch of road can be seen ahead ; you are hemmed in by 

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