A few minutes’ very easy climbing brought me to the foot of the hill by the great odúm tree, and I plunged at once into the forest, which was here rather dense, keeping a careful eye upon my shadow, that I might not lose my way. From the summit of the hill I had noted the position of the river, and I now struck out confidently in its direction. It was very unpleasant pushing through the dense vegetation, for my unclothed condition exposed me completely to the thorns with which every bush and tree seemed to be covered, and my progress was not rapid; but at length, after walking for about half a mile, I crossed a small track, and soon after came out on to the bank of the river, which was here a rather shallow stream about thirty yards broad, whose clear water ran quietly over a bed of pale grey sand. My first action on reaching the river was to lie down and indulge in a deep draught of the limpid water, for the tiny spring that we had found on the hillside below the tunnel had given barely enough water to quench our thirst, even when carefully collected in the hollows of our hands; then I arose, and having cut a bunch of twigs and laid them on the bank for a landmark, walked slowly up stream, wading nearly knee-deep. The river was a typical forest stream, meandering through a kind of tunnel of foliage, between high banks of crumbling yellow sandstone, clothed with moss and fern; but it was so enclosed by the forest and one part was so like another, that I could for some time find no spot that I could hope to identify on a second visit. I had been sauntering thus for some time when my foot came in contact with some hard object in the sand, and stooping to examine it, I picked up one of the large fresh-water mussels that the Adangme people call affaní. This was indeed a lucky find, for although these shell-fish are tough and greasy, they are perfectly wholesome to eat; so I fell to searching with my feet for more, and before long had collected as many as I could carry in my hands. The river, at the place that I had now reached, spread out into a wide expanse that in the rainy season was evidently a swamp, and as the foliage seemed here a little thinner, I waded across to the further bank in the hopes that from thence a more extended view might be obtainable. Nor was I disappointed, for when I had crossed the river, which nowhere came above my waist, I could plainly see, through an opening in the foliage, the summit of the hill and the red patch of our cliff below it.