The Shade of the Virgin Forest 241 
The road which connects the stations, the barrabarra, may 
best be compared to a woodland path or lane. It winds through 
the great African forest, about four metres in breadth, unbroken 
by any glade, the smaller trees and the undergrowth simply 
having been cut away. The larger trees remain, and create no 
obstacles, as the only part which is used is a well-trodden footway 
in the centre. The negro always marches in single file. Should 
one of the giants of the forest crash down and block the road¬ 
way, it is usually left lying, as to clear it away would necessi¬ 
tate a good deal of trouble, hardly proportionate to the benefit 
accruing to the roadway. A short detour is usually made around 
the obstacle by cutting a small bypath in the interior of the 
forest or by building an extempore bridge across it or by making 
steps. The bridges over the numerous small brooks and through 
swampy dips are the vulnerable points of the route. In parts 
they are simply corduroy roads, though often sturdier trunks are 
laid lengthways, with round logs and boughs lying across them, 
the gaps being stopped with clay and earth. These construc¬ 
tions are deserving of all praise and are quite practicable for 
pedestrians and, if of recent construction, even for horsemen. 
Unfortunately, however, they are also used by passengers for 
whom they are absolutely not intended, namely, by elephants. 
The constructions, which, after all, are only primitive negro 
handwork, are naturally not adapted for such weights, and thus 
the older bridges and dams sometimes seem to consist of “ a 
number of holes joined together.” 
Our marches proceeded monotonously from station to station, 
and the longer we travelled without incidents worthy of remark 
the deeper was the impression made upon us by the great forest. 
I believe a long stay in this forest would lead to heavy mental 
depression in sensitive men. The unutterable feeling of oppres¬ 
sion which makes itself felt in the course of time lies in the 
absence of any free view, the impossibility of permitting the eye 
to rove freely across a wide space, or of once catching a glimpse 
of sky and earth merging in the far horizon. Only a short 
stretch of road can be seen ahead; you are hemmed in by 
