152 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



floundered so badly in the sticky bottom that they 

 sometimes had to be unloaded before we could proceed. 

 The loads on the smaller oxen were submerged on each 

 occasion, and when Mrs Talbot and I unpacked our 

 things at night we invariably found them covered with 

 liquid mud. 



We had one river to cross, and it was no inconsider- 

 able task to get our loads over in one tiny dug-out, 

 hollowed from the trunk of a tree. The horses and 

 oxen had to be induced to swim. The water is still, 

 like some long pool, and all but a narrow passage is 

 thick with rushes. There is no apparent peril in the 

 crossing, for the current is slight, and there is no great 

 depth, but as we embarked a prayer was offered up 

 and the name of Allah was incessantly invoked until 

 we had set foot in safety on the opposite shore. Our 

 curiosity was awakened, and presently the natives told 

 us that the river is inhabited by a djinn, who allows 

 nothing living to share his home — no fish exists there, 

 nor any crocodile. Should a man fall in he is doomed, 

 for though he may swim to the bank, and land, and 

 think himself in safety, the djinn stretches out a long 

 arm and draws him back to death. 



The river is independent of the seasons, and if the 

 djinn so wills it, he can make the water rise even 

 though there be no rain. The natives say he can turn 

 it black, white, or blood-red as he wills ; in any case, 

 when we passed the water remained clear as crystal. 

 However, as we were about to enter an arid region, we 

 filled our water-bottles, but when the time came to 

 drink we found that the djinn had proved his might 

 and had turned it thick and black, so that we were 

 forced to go thirsty. 



