CHAPTEE XXI 



THE EXPLORATION OF LAKE CHAD 



The wide reed-belts to the south lay Hke a hazy band along 

 the horizon. This was the barrier that had checked us before, 

 but I still had hopes that we might find a passage by a 

 careful searching out of every nook and corner. So we 

 took the course of our former voyage, keeping close to the 

 line of the reeds. After going smoothly for about four miles, 

 it was the same old story of no water for the boats and a 

 day was spent in ineffectual attempts to thread the mazy 

 windings of the reed-belts. I therefore determined to try 

 and cut a passage through them on the following day. For 

 this work it was necessary to Ughten one of the boats, and 

 I hit upon the plan of constructing a scaffold in the water 

 by means of the poles and floor-boards. Upon this impro- 

 vised platform we piled all our belongings and set a guard 

 over them — a rather comic group in the middle of the Lake ! 

 The contrivance served another useful purpose in giving us 

 more room at night, for there were no islands with dry ground 

 and we had to sleep in the boats. We worked hard at the 

 cutting for two days, during which time we penetrated for a 

 distance of 800 yards and I waded a mile beyond that, but 

 still could see no end to the reeds and maria bush. Deep in 

 the bhnd thickets the silence was so profound that the noise 

 of my own footsteps startled me as I crashed through the 



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