Page 76 - Adventures in Africa

A t length we came in sight of a broader river than
we had crossed since we had left the desert
W e had no doubt that it would conduct us down to

the lake, on the borders of which we hoped to find
our friends encamped. How to cross it was the

difficulty- I suggested that we should construct a
raft, as the reeds which fringed the bank would supply
us with abundance of material.

Not far off was a tree-covered island, the interven­
ing space being filled with reeds. Leaving Jan and
the ox on the shore, my uncle and I set off to reach

the island, thinking* that we could there more con­
veniently build our raft M d launch it than from the

main land.
Plunging in among the reeds we soon found our­
selves almost overwhelmed : not a breath of air could

reach us, and the heat was so stifling that we almost
fainted. Still, having begun, we were unwilling to

give up*
Frequently we could only get on by leaning against
the mass of reeds, and bending them down until we

could stand upon them. They were mixed with a
serrated grass which cut our hands, while the whole

was bound together by the climbing convolvulus,
with stalks so strong that we could not break them.
Plying our axes, however, we managed to make

our onward way until wo gained the island, but here
to our disappointment we found that we were thirty

yards or more from the clear water, which was full of
great masses of papyrus with stalks ten feet in height,
and an inch and a half in diameter. These also were

bound together by the convolvulus in a way which