wood I know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours
seemed like years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I
found that I was free of the close undergrowth and walking on
level ground; but it was darker here darker than the darkest
night; and at length, when the lightning came and flared down
through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I discovered that I
was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees were very
large and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede
progress beneath them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run,
and after a while found that I had left the large trees behind
me, and was now in a more open place, with small trees and
bushes; and this made me hope for a while that I had at last
reached the border of the forest. But the hope proved vain; once
more I had to force my way through dense undergrowth, and finally
emerged on to a slope where it was open, and I could once more
see for some distance around me by such light as came through the
thick pall of clouds. Trudging on to the summit of the slope, I
saw that there was open savannah country beyond, and for a moment
rejoiced that I had got free from the forest. A few steps more,
and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not
less than fifty feet deep. I had never seen that bank before,
and therefore knew that I could not be on the right side of the
forest. But now my only hope was to get completely away from the
trees and then to look for the village, and I began following the
bank in search of a descent. No break occurred, and presently I
was stopped by a dense thicket of bushes. I was about to retrace
my steps when I noticed that a tall slender tree growing at the
foot of the precipice, its green top not more than a couple of
yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of escape. Nerving
myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall I