ed my trouble to the chief, he told me that another hut had
already been provided for my sleeping quarters, where my bed was made
of certain green and odorous leaves which are antidotes to mosquitoes.
After a little more chat, he offered to guide me to the hovel, a low,
thickly matted bower, through whose single aperture I crawled on hands
and knees. As soon as I was in, the entrance was closed, and although
I felt very much as if packed in my grave, I slept an unbroken sleep
till day-dawn.[D]

My return to the Rio Pongo was attended with considerable danger, yet
I did not regret the trial of my spirit, as it enabled me to see a
phase of African character which otherwise might have been missed.

After passing two days among the Bagers, I departed once more in my
canoe, impelled by the stout muscles of the Kroomen. The breeze
freshened as we passed from the river's mouth across the boiling surf
of the bar, but, when we got fairly to sea, I found the Atlantic so
vexed by the rising gale, that, in spite of waterproof awning and
diligent bailing, we were several times near destruction. Still, I had
great confidence in the native boatmen, whose skill in their skiffs is
quite as great as their dexterity when naked in the water. I had often
witnessed their agility as they escaped from capsized boats on the
surf of our bar; and often had I rewarded them with a dram, when they
came, as from a frolic, dripping and laughing to the beach.

When night began to fall around us the storm increased, and I could
detect, by the low chatter and anxious looks of the rowers, that they
were alarmed. As far as my eye reached landward, I could descry
nothing but a continuous reef on which the chafed sea was dashing
furiously in columns of the densest spray. Of course I felt that it
was not my duty, nor would it be prudent, to undertake the guidance of
the canoe in such circumstances. Yet, I confess that a shudder ran
through my nerves when I saw my "head-man" suddenly change our course
and steer the skiff directly towards the rocks. On she bounded like a
racer. The sea through which they urged her foamed like a caldron with
the rebounding surf. Nothing but wave-lashed rock was before us. At
last I could detect a narrow gap in the iron wall, which was filled
with surges in the heaviest swells. We approached it, and paused at
the distance of fifty feet. A wave had just burst through the chasm
like a storming army. We waited for the succeeding l