CHAP. iv. ELEPHANT. 183 



day, but after a few steps I found myself blundering into 

 mud-holes, and at last, in the utter darkness, I walked 

 into a pool of stagnant water, out of which it was with 

 great difficulty that I extricated myself. I had seen 

 several of these long slimy lagoons as I came in, into 

 which huge iguanas plunged with a sullen splash as I 

 passed, and which from the marks on the mud I could tell 

 were the abode of crocodiles, but while there was light it 

 had been easy to skirt them, though now they seemed to 

 be on all sides of me, and whichever way I turned I 

 found myself in danger of sinking into them. 



However, I wandered on, still believing that I could 

 not be far from the edge, and that it would not be long 

 before I gained it, and unwilling to even admit to my 

 mind the possibility of having to pass the night alone in 

 such a spot, while, if I had only known it, I was plung- 

 ing further and further in among these pathless reeds ; 

 often above my knees in mud, with my body all sore from 

 the sharp points of the reeds with which I was continually 

 coming in contact, I still kept on, until I suddenly found 

 them become thin, while beyond was a glimmer of light 

 that raised my hopes of getting out, attaining to almost 

 certainty, as I stepped out into an open covered with 

 long grass. Alas ! it was but a delusion, but an oasis in 

 the desert. I walked across it ; it was quite a hundred 

 yards broad, and on the opposite side found reeds again, 

 and then skirting all round it with a like result I saw 

 that it must be one of those bare places which I had heard 

 existed here, and whose presence enabled the elephants 

 and hippopotami to feed without leaving their strong- 

 hold. 



