CH. 2% ASOAY ON CAE ATH RIVER 219 
to rest, owing to the number of lions about, I went 
up to them to see if I could be of any assistance, 
and found that they were American missionaries 
journeying to their stations further inland. They 
were waiting for their camp equipment to arrive, 
but their porters had been considerably delayed 
by some very heavy rain, which of course made the 
roads bad and the tents about double their usual 
weight. The men of the party were expected 
every moment with the porters, but there was as 
yet no sign of the little caravan, and as a matter 
of fact it did not arrive until long after nightfall. 
In these circumstances it was perhaps a great 
blessing that I happened to be there; and as 
the ladies were both very tired and hungry, il 
was glad to be able to place my tent at their dis- 
posal and to offer them as good a dinner as it 
was possible to provide in the wilds. It is indeed 
wonderful what dangers and hardships these deli- 
cately nurtured ladies will face cheerfully in order to 
carry out their self-appointed mission. 
When they had left next morning to resume their 
journey, I started out and made a search up and 
down the river for the proper position for my 
temporary bridge. After a thorough examination 
of all the possible situations, I chose the most 
suitable and pitched my tent close to it for a night 
or two while I made the necessary calculations for 
