Chap. LXXVI. A NIGHT MARCH THROUCxH SWAMPS. 167 
approached closely, and rendered irrigation very easy ; 
but unfortunately a heavy thunder-storm, rising in a 
tremendous battery of clouds, and enveloping the whole 
country in a dense mass of sand, did not allow of 
any exact observations being made. The many chan- 
nels which here intersected our road, proved a dis- 
agreeable hindrance in our hurried march, and al- 
though the clouds passed by without bringing any rain, 
yet darkness set in before we had reached our desti- 
nation, and to my great disappointment prevented 
my noticing the whole character of the district. 
But the inconvenience soon increased when we 
entered upon the swampy, grassy border of the river ; 
for although a small fire, on the dry shore to our left, 
held out to my companions, who were travelling almost 
without supplies, the prospect of a rather poor supper, 
a long line of fires in the midst of the river promised 
them better fare. Without regarding, therefore, the 
difficulties of the ground and the darkness of the night, 
we made straight for them. My friends were not even 
deterred, when we reached a narrow dyke scarcely fit 
for one horse, and in great decay, and which the guide 
declared to be the only path leading through a sheet 
of water separating us from the encampment. Thus, 
we boldly entered upon this dyke, but we had only 
proceeded a few hundred yards, when it was pro- 
nounced, even by these people, so well accustomed to 
an amphibious life, to be totally impracticable, so that 
we were obliged to retrace our steps. While engaged 
in this most dangerous proceeding, my servant, the 
M 4 
