"I'm ready now," said Max.
"Then come along," said Crouch.
The mud lay in ridges, which had been baked hard by the sun. Between these the water lay in long pools which, as they progressed farther to the north, became more and more still, less disturbed by the current that issued from the falls. Crouch patted his clothes as he limped along.
"I've lost every blamed thing," said he; "pipe, pouch and baccy, compass, knife and ammunition."
Max answered nothing. He thought it would not be wise to sympathize. Crouch was a peculiar man in many ways.
Soon after midday they came to the mangrove swamp; and the crossing of a mangrove swamp is a thing that most African explorers have accomplished. The roots of the short, stunted trees stand out upon the surface of the water. It is necessary to pass by way of these, stepping from one root to another; and some knowledge of the art of balancing is utterly essential. If you lose your foothold, you fall into the swamp, and there you are set upon by leeches. Some of these are large--sometimes as large as snails--but the kind generally met with is an animal so small that it can work its way through the eye-holes of your boots. Once this creature has laid hold upon your skin, and begun to suck your blood, it begins to swell until it has attained the size of a cherry.
At the edge of the mangrove swamp Crouch and Max took off their boots, and hung these across their shoulders. With bare feet they could get a better footing upon the twisted roots of the trees.
For three hours they journeyed through the swamp, which was buried in semi-darkness. It was far darker than the jungle. It is in these swamps that the mosquitoes swarm in myriads, and all the deadly diseases of the country are engendered. To pitch a standing camp in the vicinity of a mangrove swamp, is to court a certain death from malaria or typhoid.
They were weary, faint, and aching in their bones when they came upon the banks of the Kasai. No wonder this had been named the "Hidden River." It joined the great tributary of the Congo in a thousand little streams, all flowing silently through darkness beneath the close-packed trees.
Crouch turned to the right. He had been bearing to the east throughout, and in a little while they were clear of the swamp, on terra firma. Seating themselves, they put on their boots.