s was the jungle, hemming in the plantations and
villages, bordering the lagoons, creeping down until it fairly overhung
the yellow beaches; as though, conqueror through all the country beyond,
it were half-inclined to dispute dominion with old Ocean himself. It
looked from the distance like a thick, soft coverlet thrown down over
the country; following--or, rather, suggesting--the inequalities.
Through the glasses we were occasionally able to peep under the edge of
this coverlet, and see where the fringe of the jungle drew back in a
little pocket, or to catch the sheen of mysterious dark rivers slipping
to the sea. Up these dark rivers, by way of the entrances of these tiny
pockets, the imagination then could lead on into the dimness beneath the
sunlit upper surfaces.

Towards the close of one afternoon we changed our course slightly, and
swung in on a long slant towards the coast. We did it casually; too
casually for so very important an action, for now at last we were about
to touch the mysterious continent. Then we saw clearer the fine, big
groves of palm and the luxuriance of the tropical vegetation. Against
the greenery, bold and white, shone the buildings of Mombasa; and after
a little while we saw an inland glitter that represented her narrow,
deep bay, the stern of a wreck against the low, green cliffs, and
strange, fat-trunked squat trees without leaves. Straight past all this
we glided at half speed, then turned sharp to the right to enter a long
wide expanse like a river, with green banks, twenty feet or so in
height, grown thickly with the tall cocoanut palms. These gave way at
times into broad, low lagoons, at the end of which were small beaches
and boats, and native huts among more cocoanut groves. Through our
glasses we could see the black men watching us, quite motionless,
squatted on their heels.

It was like suddenly entering another world, this gliding from the open
sea straight into the heart of a green land. The ceaseless wash of waves
we had left outside with the ocean; our engines had fallen silent.
Across the hushed waters came to us strange chantings and the beating of
a tom-tom, an occasional shrill shout from the unknown jungle. The sun
was just set, and the tops of the palms caught the last rays; all below
was dense green shadow. Across the surface of the water glided dug-out
canoes of shapes strange to us. We passed ancient ruins almost
completely dismantled, their stones half smothered in