A CAMP AMONG CANNIBALS 



attack did not follow. Far on the hills where the trees 

 fell back and the grass waved, the winding path to the 

 summit showed clearly as it wound in and about the 

 broken slope, whose surface was strewn with gigantic 

 boulders of ironstone, some of which must have weighed 

 thousands of tons. 



At the foot of the next dip we were at the bottom 

 of the valley, and threading our way through densely 

 packed trees and creepers. From the ground underfoot 

 came the pungent odour of decayed vegetation that the 

 sun never reached. A little farther on the sound of 

 rushing waters reached our ears as our boys worked with 

 the axes among the long creepers and massive boughs 

 that hindered our progress. The ring of the axes striking 

 the heavier limbs that had to be cut away echoed far 

 around us. Occasionally a snake would wriggle or glide 

 from under the dead leaves close to our feet and disappear 

 in the semi-darkness of the place to nestle beneath some 

 other bush or deep carpet of leaves, and as we moved 

 slowly forward millions of insects and creeping things 

 droned and crawled beneath our feet. At length we 

 reached the water's edge and saw that the Insa was a 

 " tough proposition," and impossible to pass at the point 

 at which we had emerged. We stood listening to the 

 hollow echoes of unfamiliar sounds and the cries of 

 alarm and trumpet blasts of the natives above who 

 lined the summit of the hills ahead. These were hidden 

 from view by the dense vegetation and the branches of 

 enormous trees which overhung the river from either 

 bank. Many of the plants and trees were a glory of 

 coloured blossoms, and around the tree-trunks there 

 grew moss and fairy-like ferns in a glorious profusion, 

 looking down on the foaming, tumbling waters which 

 kissed the trailing creepers and tendrils as they hung 

 from the great limbs that stretched out overhead. We 

 had to clear a path through the network of vines, bush, 



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