Page 103 - Adventures in Africa

assurances of the natives that it was fit to perform a

long voyage, I was glad of the attendance of the
canoes.
All things being ready, amid the shouts of the

people on shore, we shoved off, and, being towed out
into the stream by the canoes, set sail. Considering
the clumsy nature of our raft, we glided on with

great rapidity, the canoemen having to paddle pretty
hard to keep up with us.
It was pleasant to be reclining at our ease, and

to be borne along without having to exert ourselves.
The voyage, however, was not without its dangers.

Now and then a huge hippopotamus would show
its ugly head alongside, threatening to overturn our
frail craft, which it might easily have done with one
heave of its back. Occasionally, too, crocodiles

would swim by, looking up at us with their savage
eyes, showing1 us how w-e should bo treated should
we by any chance be sent splashing into the

water. About mid-day we steered for the shore
where our black crew intimated that they intended
to dine.

The raft was secured by a rope round the mast and
carried to the trunk of a tree. \Ve, however, were
unwilling to leave our goods on board without a

guard, and therefore determined to remain where we
w^ere and to eat a cold meal; the materials for which
we had brought with us. The water appearingbright

and tempting, I w’as about to plunge overboard, when
1 felt the raft give a heave. Directly afterwards,
a huge crocodile poked his ugly snout above the

surface, warning me that I had better remain where I
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