WE STRIKE INLAND 
began to heel over, and it was accordingly tied to a 
tree with strands of cane, and a large gang of men 
held these stays until the worst of the storm was 
passed. Even Mavai’s substantial house gave way a 
little under the tempest. 
It was about 9.50 when we started on our journey 
from Epa to Ekeikei. We sent twenty-five carriers 
on with their loads, and we ourselves followed 
with the remainder of the baggage. Of course we 
could not carry everything on this trip, and it was 
my intention, when we finally reached our destination 
at Dinawa, to send back mountain men to bring the 
rest of the material up the forty miles’ tramp from 
Epa. : 
At first the path led downwards, and very soon 
we came to a small river, over which—as the existing 
bamboo bridge was unsafe owing to a freshet—we 
had to be carried by the natives. We always took 
ereat care to avoid, as far as possible, getting our 
clothes wet, as this accident renders the Kuropean 
traveller particularly liable to fever. In this case, 
however, this precaution proved futile, owing to the 
oncoming of a downpour of rain—the last we were 
to see for nine months. 
At times the brushwood was very dense, and we 
had to cut our way, but where the forest was closely 
matted above, forming a thick canopy which excluded 
the light, nothing, of course, could grow beneath. 
At points where the light penetrated, the undergrowth 
was immediately thick again. The path, such as it 
was, was stony and hard. As we trudged along in 
the wet, we made the acquaintance of a new discom- 
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