282 "AHAI OW MAZADA!"

being longer than mine by some feet, and soon I discerned him in difficulties. " Moya ketir (Much water), called he ; but " Mrs. Gray" was on the opposite side, and I boldly started into the morass. It was not merely a bed of mud and superincumbent water, but a network through its depths and above them of tangled cane-reeds in all stages of burntness and rot. The caked black mass on the surface at first had been hardened by the sun's rays, and the feet sank but a few inches into the entanglement. Then a step or two forward, and my foot smashed through the crust ; one leg broke down into 4 feet of foul black water and rottenness, and I found myself sprawling on all fours in the filth, now a little more supported through the less concentrated distribution of weight. The trouble now was how to extricate one hand or one foot and place it before the other, and I thought of the remarkably ludicrous sight I must present to the binoculars on the steamer, though, as a matter of fact, the good men were somewhat concerned at my plight.

I felt my Ross monocular go under water, and nearly lost my spectacles, in the course of the struggle ; while, as I extricated one hand to advance it a foot, the other sank deeper, and, depressing my head to the surface, checked further movement. The grass swarmed with a huge variety of red ant, which made ferocious attacks, and horrid beasties of various descriptions installed themselves on my skin. How any progress was made is now in-