road which it would have been possible to follow without
a guide, seeing that it also was overgrown with reeds. Indeed, the only
difference between it and the surrounding swamp was that on the road
the soil was comparatively firm, that is to say, one seldom sank into
it above the knee, whereas on either side of it quagmires were often
apparently bottomless, and what is more, partook of the nature of
quicksand.

This we found out soon after we entered the swamp, since Robertson,
pushing forward with the fierce eagerness which seemed to consume him,
neglected to keep his eye upon the spoor and stepped off the edge on to
land that appeared to be exactly similar to its surface. Instantly he
began to sink in greasy and tenacious mud. Umslopogaas and I were only
twenty yards behind, yet by the time we reached him in answer to his
shouts, already he was engulfed up to his middle and going down so
rapidly that in another minute he would have vanished altogether. Well,
we got him out but not with ease, for that mud clung to him like the
tentacles of an octopus. After this we were more careful.

Nor did this road run straight; on the contrary, it curved about and
sometimes turned at right angles, doubtless to avoid a piece of swamp
over which it had proved impossible for the ancients to construct a
causeway, or to follow some out-crop of harder soil beneath.

The difficulties of that horrible place are beyond description, and
indeed can scarcely be imagined. First there was that of a kind of grass
which grew among the roots of the reeds and had edges like to those of
knives. As Robertson and I wore gaiters we did not suffer so much from
it, but the poor Zulus with their bare legs were terribly cut about and
in some cases lame.

Then there were the mosquitoes which lived here by the million and all
seemed anxious for a bite; also snakes of a peculiarly deadly kind were
numerous. A Zulu was bitten by one of them of so poisonous a nature that
he died within three minutes, for the venom seemed to go straight to his
heart. We threw his body into the swamp, where it vanished at once.

Lastly there was the all-pervading stench and the intolerable heat of
the place, since no breath of air could penetrate that forest of
reeds, while a minor trouble was that of the multitude of leeches
which fastened on to our bodies. By looking one could see the creatures
sitting on the under side of leaves with their heads stretched out
waiting to