58 



ACROSS AFEICA. 



[Chap. 



April, 

 1873. 



away with a rope made fast round the neck of the beast, which 

 never appeared after tlie first phmge until his feet struck ground 

 at the opposite bank. 



"We camped a few hundred yards from the river, and, the 

 afternoon being fine, occupied ourselves in drying such of our 

 stores as had been damaged by the wet. But during the night 

 the rain came down again in torrents ; our camping-ground be- 

 came a swamp, and the river rose until the bridge over which 

 we had passed was quite under water. 



We congratulated ourselves on our good fortune in not be- 

 ing delayed another day before crossing, otherwise we might 

 have been compelled to wait a week for the waters to subside, 

 the current being far too swift to admit of our using the boat. 



A portion of the plain rather raised above the general level 

 now afforded us dry and good marching, and a striking feature 

 on the route was presented by the number of fan-palms {Bo- 

 rassus fldhelUforonu), the swelling in the middle of their tall 

 trunks having a very peculiar appearance to eyes unaccus- 

 tomed to such an apparent deformity. 



The numerous runs of game with which the country was in- 

 tersected were also noticeable. One was so worn that, having 

 separated from the main body of the caravan just before reach- 

 ing camp, I followed it instead of the proper path for about 

 half a mile, without discovering my mistake. 



