Chap. XXVII. A FOREST ENCAMPMENT. 227 
darkness which had set in, to encamp in the midst of 
this dense forest ; and I chose a small hillock on the 
border of the river, in order to protect myself, as 
well as possible, from the noxious exhalations, and 
spread my tent over my luggage, in the midst of 
which I arranged my bed. I then strewed, in a 
circle round our little encampment, dry wood and 
other fuel, to be kindled in case of an attack of wild 
beasts, and, taking out a parcel of cartridges, pre- 
pared for the worst. However, we passed a quiet 
night, disturbed only by the roaring of a lion on the 
other side of the river, and by a countless multitude 
of waterfowl of various species, playing and splash- 
ing about in the water the whole night. 
Having convinced myself that the river Saturday 
could be crossed by the path only at the March 29th - 
place where we first came upon it, I mounted early in 
the morning, after we had loaded the camels, and 
returned to that spot, when, having crossed the stream, 
I found the continuation of the path on the other 
side. At length we were again en route , having 
lost altogether about three hours of our precious 
time. However, my companions thought that never- 
theless we should not have been able the previous 
evening, in the twilight, to reach the next station, the 
name of which is also Ngurutuwa ; so dense was the 
forest in some places, and such difficulty had we in 
getting through with our luggage, so that we were at 
times almost reduced to despair. 
Beyond the village mentioned we should not 
