It would save time because if he proceeded overland he would have to cross several mountain ranges where there were no roads, and where the climbing would be very difficult even for the well trained donkeys.
This seemed to Trim to be a sensible suggestion, especially as traveling by raft is one of the common ways of journeying in Africa.
Accordingly, he went into camp there and during the rest of the day and a part of the night he and his men worked at making two rafts.
It was not a very difficult matter, for the rafts consisted principally of trees cut down, stripped of their branches, and bound together with tough vines that grew along the banks of the river in abundance.
Less than a whole day was lost in this operation, and when the rafts were done it was found that they would easily hold the entire party, donkeys included.
The current of the river at that spot was not swift, and when the journey was resumed the men had no difficulty at all in guiding the rafts by means of poles so that they kept in mid stream and avoided rocks and shallow places.
Later in the day they came to rapids, and there they had more trouble.
It was nothing of a very serious nature, but it required their men to keep on the jump all the time in order to prevent the rafts from bumping against rocks or being thrown against the banks of the river which there was very crooked.
The most serious difficulty came when one of the donkeys was pitched overboard as the second raft whirled rapidly around a big rock in the very middle of the river.
Trim was on the first raft. He looked back when he heard the cries of his men and saw the donkey struggling helplessly in the current.