176 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



but flexible bark, and then removing a piece of 

 this bark of the required length in one piece 

 without felling the tree. The ends were then 

 folded across and sewn together, the crevices 

 being filled with clay, a split bamboo being 

 sewn round the top to form a gunwale, and 

 two or three cross-pieces being attached to 

 stiffen the frame and lessen any tendency to 

 collapse. As a result of this ingenious carpen- 

 tering, I was presently in possession of a light 

 and watertight canoe, about 12 feet long and 

 3 feet broad, capable of holding six or seven 

 men. At the first launch we found that the 

 current was too strong to allow of either poling 

 or paddling, but my porters soon rigged up a 

 long rope of plaited bark, which was fastened 

 to trees low down on either bank by a man 

 who managed to take one end of it and swim 

 across, and by this means we got the porters 

 and their loads across without accident. 



"We now had to make two marches to 

 Kafwimbi, as the going * was bad, several 

 streams, insignificant during the dry season, 

 being now so big that it was found necessary 

 to halt while trees were felled and laid across. 

 On the second day's march I came upon fairly 

 fresh spoor of cow elephants, as well as fresh 

 spoor of three rhinos, which are common in 

 that part of the country. These, however, we 

 did not follow, as I did not want to frighten 

 the elephants away by firing at other game. 



"On reaching Kafwimbi's, I interviewed the 

 chief, who told me that some of his men had 

 seen the spoor of a very big bull elephant not 



