389 
Chap. XXIV.—B. P.J TRAVELLING BY NIGHT. 
I lay down; and wbat with the soothing nature of the 
Carib song—more like humming than singing—and 
the gentle rocking of the canoe, I soon fell fast asleep. 
At first sight it may appear strange for a traveller 
about to make a journey with the avowed purpose of 
exploration, to start on his voyage just before mid¬ 
night, and compass a good many miles in darkness 
but there was more than one substantial reason for 
doing so. In the first place, I had arranged to be in 
Blewfields on the 1st May; so that I only had an in¬ 
terval of two and a half days between the time of my 
departure and noon on the day of my appointment. 
Then, again, I was anxious to see how quickly the 
journey could really be made; for there were many 
apocryphal stories about the distance, and no one 
seemed to have any very clear idea of either the 
length or direction of the navigable portion of the 
river. Lastly, pushing ahead by night was not only 
a gain in time, but also in comfort; for it is needless 
to say how much cooler it is with the sun beneath the 
horizon, than during the daytime, when it is blazing 
overhead; besides, I so managed, that in returning 
I covered during daylight that part of the river pre¬ 
viously passed at night-time, and I therefore saw 
every inch of it, from Kisilala to the mouth. 
In spite of the comfort of the chowpa, I soon woke 
up, and spent the rest of the night in alternate dozing 
under shelter and standing up outside, taking mental 
notes of the appearance of the banks. Nothing trans¬ 
pired by way of variety; the men kept on with their 
paddling, no doubt taking it in turns, when my eye 
