286 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



ing that we could not be far off, I decided to walk 

 the rest of the way. So we proceeded, and every 

 minute expected to hear the sound of the carriers 

 laughing and talking as they told each other tales 

 by the bright fires that always surround a camp. But 

 the darkness increased, no voice broke the silence, 

 and our footsteps sank deep in the soft sand. Thick 

 bushes grew on either side and made the darkness 

 darker, while their thorny boughs stretched out to 

 catch us as we passed. Occasionally steep gullies 

 barred our way, cut by turbulent rivulets in the rainy 

 season, their banks a mass of sharp loose stones. 

 Sometimes an exclamation was heard, the cry of a 

 boy who had tripped in the darkness and fallen. It 

 became evident that some mistake had been made, 

 our boys had not pitched camp halfway as they had 

 been told to do, and the whole long march was before 

 us. Our water-bottles were nearly empty, and we had 

 had nothing except tea and biscuits since an early 

 lunch, and now it was nine o'clock. 



Eight men who had come from Maifoni with us took 

 it in turn to carry the hammock, in shifts of four at 

 a time. When off duty, one preceded his comrades 

 to test the path and give warning of its difficulties ; 

 another stayed immediately behind, ready to seize the 

 pole, and so save an accident should a comrade slip 

 and fall. Their unselfishness and courage were really 

 wonderful, for the thorny bushes tore them as they 

 passed, and sandals were but little protection against 

 the jagged stones. We all walked single file, but they 

 had to walk two abreast, yet they never once sacrificed 

 Mr Talbot to any consideration for themselves, and it 



