Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/481

 DRIFTING DOWN THK STREAM. 453 shore, and copal-trees, acacias with thcir stiff foliage, bau- hinias clothed with lichen, fig-trees with theîr masses of pendant roots, and other trees of splendid growth rose to the height of a hundred feet, forming a shade which thc rays of the sun utterly failed to penetrate. Occasionally a wreath of creepers would form an arch from shore to shore, and on the 27th, to Jack's great delight, a group of monkeys was seen crossing one of thèse natural bridges, holding on most carefully by their tails, lest the aërial pathway should snap beneath their weight. Thèse monkeys, belonging to a smaller kind of chimpanzee, which are known in Central Africa by the name of sokos^ were hideous créatures with low foreheads, bright yellow faces, and long, upright ears ; they herd in troops of about ten, bark like dogs, and are much dreaded by the natives on account of their alleged propensity to carry off young children ; there is no tèlling what predatory designs they might hâve formed against Master Jack if they had spied hîm out, but Dick*s artifice effcctually scrcened him from their observation. Twenty miles further on the canoë came to a sudden standstill. " What's the matter now, captaîn P" crîed Hercules from the stem. " We hâve drifted on to a grass barrier, and there is no hope for it, we shall hâve to eut our way through," answered Dick. plied Hercules, leaving his ruddcr to corne in front. The obstruction was formed by thc interlacing of masses of the tough, glossy grass known by thc name of tikatika, which, when comprcsscd, affords a surface so compact and resisting that travellcrs hâve been known by means of it to cross rivers dry-footed. Splendid spécimens of lotus plants had taken root amongst the végétation. As it was nearly dark, Hercules could Icave the boat without much fear of détection, and so effectually did he wield his hatchct that, in two hours after the stoppage, thc
 * ' Ail rîght, I dare say we shall manage it," promptly re-