382 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. LXIV. 
a wide open water we soon got into a narrow 
channel, while the grassy expanse spread out on 
each side to a great extent ; and, making our way 
with great difficulty, we emerged into a wide open 
branch, much more considerable than the one along 
which our course had lain, it being the principal 
trunk of the westerly watercourse of Sarayamo. As 
soon as we had entered it, some large specimens 
of the alligator tribe afforded proofs of a more ex- 
tensive sheet of water, while the current, which at 
first was running against us, was so considerable 
that we advanced rather slowly. The whole breadth 
of the river or channel, forming one large unbroken 
sheet of water, was certainly not less than from 600 
to 700 yards, while the depth in the midst of the 
channel, at least as far as I had an opportunity of 
judging from the poles of our boatmen, measured 
fourteen feet and a half, and at times even as much as 
eighteen, and probably more. The banks were en- 
livened by men and horses, and we passed an encamp- 
ment of herdsmen with their cattle. The w T estern 
shore especially was adorned with a profusion of 
dum-palms, besides fine tamarind trees, sarkakaya, 
and others of unknown species. Thus repeatedly 
delayed by shifting sands obstructing the channel of 
the river, we moved on in a tolerably direct northerly 
course, till we reached the village of Menesengay, 
situated on sandy downs about twenty feet high, 
beyond a deep gulf of the westerly shore. The 
low grassy ground on the eastern side formed the 
