in and smote the dark-brown current
with their oars, and the prospect of a restful night at Beira rose once
more before us. But our difficulties were not quite over, for we
grounded several times afterwards, and progress was so slow that it
seemed very doubtful whether we should find and reach before dark the
little steam-launch that had come up to meet us.

Ever since my childish imagination had been captivated by the picture of
Africa's sunny fountains rolling down their golden sand, the idea of
traversing a tropical forest on the bosom of a great African river had
retained its fascination. Here at last was the reality, and what a
dreary reality! The shallow, muddy stream, broken into many channels,
which inclosed low, sandy islets, had spread to a width of two miles.
The alluvial banks, rising twenty feet in alternate layers of sand and
clay, cut off any view of the country behind. All that could be seen was
a fringe of thick, low trees, the edge of the forest that ran back from
the river. Conspicuous among them was the ill-omened "fever tree," with
its gaunt, bare, ungainly arms and yellow bark--the tree whose presence
indicates a pestilential air. Here was no luxuriant variety of form, no
wealth of colour, no festooned creepers nor brilliant flowers, but a
dull and sad monotony, as we doubled point after point and saw reach
after reach of the featureless stream spread out before us. Among the
trees not a bird was to be seen or heard; few even fluttered on the
bosom of the river. We watched for crocodiles sunning themselves on the
sandspits, and once or twice thought we saw them some two hundred yards
away, but they had always disappeared as we drew nearer. The beast is
quick to take alarm at the slightest noise, and not only the paddles of
a steamer, but even the plash of oars, will drive him into the water.
For his coyness we were partly consoled by the gambols of the
river-horses. All round the boat these creatures were popping up their
huge snouts and shoulders, splashing about, and then plunging again into
the swirling water. Fortunately none rose quite close to us, for the
hippopotamus, even if he means no mischief, may easily upset a boat when
he comes up under it, or may be induced by curiosity to submerge it with
one bite of his strong jaws, in which case the passengers are likely to
have fuller opportunities than they desire of becoming acquainted with
the crocodiles.

Among such sights the sultry afterno