BXPLOEATION OF THE KIBALI 331 



The next morning I started to cut a way out by a due 

 west course, giving the direction with my compass to Umuru 

 who led the way, the rest of the men following behind in my 

 tracks and tying knots in the grass at intervals to mark the 

 path for the return. It was hard work, for we had literally 

 to throw our whole weight on to the dense tall grass, the 

 stalks of which were like canes, in order to bear it down. 

 In this way we went on battling till three o'clock, when we 

 had done a distance of two miles at least, but there was no 

 sign of a road and it was necessary to turn back in order to 

 reach camp before dark. That night I was very dejected, 

 but I resolved to have one more try, and when the morning 

 came I sent out Jose with the " boys " to continue the 

 cutting. Towards mid-day, to my great joy, Lowi returned 

 with the news that Jose had found the road, and had gone 

 to the nearest village to collect food, so now I had a line of 

 communication in my rear. 



Leaving Jose in charge of the camp, I started on July 28, 

 to trek in an easterly direction. Crossing the little river 

 Axebi, a confluent of the Ira, at a point where it was fifty 

 yards wide I found myself in very hilly country where the 

 native track climbed over rocks and passed through deep 

 quagmires and along the beds of small streams ; thence 

 through forests of tall cane-grass, 15 ft. high, a feature that 

 belongs to East Africa and was now met with by me for the 

 first time. I began to realise that it would be impossible 

 to carry the boat-sections through this kind of country. 



On the third day, in the country of the Mombuttus, I 

 reached the village of Magombo, a Bangba chief who had 

 been fighting these hill people- for some years. His first 



