Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/30

22 ; a new and beautiful species of Combretum, Rhizophora gymnorhiza Linn.; Sonneratia ascida ''Linn. suppl.; Avicennia tomentosa Linn''. (rack-tree of Mr. Bruce;) a species of Sapindus; and another of Diospyros, probably not described.

Whether the neck of land which we now left (which I shall call Elephant Point,) be an island, or a part of the main land, we had no means of ascertaining; it forms the southern cape of a large bay, or inlet about five miles across, and ten or twelve deep. As we stretched across this bay, about three miles west by south from Elephant Point, we came to a reef, over which the sea was breaking, which compelled us to tack in again; but the wind and tide being both contrary, we made so little progress, that we thought it best to take our sail in at once, and pull directly into the bay. We had no chart, nor directions to guide us to the situation of Sofala; but as we thought we could distinguish buildings, on an elevated ground lying about nine miles S. W. by W. from us, and as a volume of smoke was rising behind it, we steered in that direction. Advancing slowly into the bay, we shoaled our water gradually, from five fathoms to three, to two, and one fathom, and at last to three feet. This was at the bottom of the bay, which we had reached after four hours hard rowing. Our disappointment then became very great, on finding ourselves as far from our object as ever, not being able to discover the slightest trace of town, fort, nor inhabitants.

We nevertheless entered the mouth of a wide river, which soon branched off into so many divisions, and had so wild an appearance, as to render it imprudent to advance. The shores were all flat and covered with a thick jungle close down to the water's-edge, and the different points, or islands, formed by the intersecting streams, were so much alike, and so extremely intricate, that once entangled among them, it would have been scarcely possible for us to have found the way out. As we returned, we saw on the left bank two canoes hauled up on shore; on approaching them, one of the natives, quite naked, if I may except a thick coat of mud, started from the beach with a spear in his hand, and running away in great alarm, soon hid himself among the trees. The spot where he