Down at the landing-place, Annan was waiting impatiently with the carriers, and Aba, who had come to see me off, stood at a little distance, aloof and haughty, holding no communication with the Fanti merchant. As I appeared, the carriers and Annan scrambled into the long ferry canoe, and the ferryman took up his pole and prepared to push off, so Aba stepped into the unwieldy craft that he might see the last of me. I showed him the bag of masa, and thanked him and Fatima for their hospitality, and would have made him a little present, but when he perceived my intention, he shook his head with such energy, repeating “Bábu bábu!” and clucking his tongue deprecatingly, that I desisted and shook him again by the hand. As the canoe grated on the beach of the north shore, Aba addressed a few words to Annan as the latter stepped ashore. “You hear me, David Annan, dis white gentleman my friend. He go wid you for far bush. Spose you no look him proper, den when you come back, I ask you, what you do for my friend? You sabby?” Annan had by this time climbed the steep bank, and now, looking down at the sergeant, he made a gesture of contempt, remarking that “scholar man no fit to talk to Sálaga donkor” with which polite rejoinder he turned away along the road. The carriers followed and, with a last “good-bye” to Aba, I climbed the bank and hurried after them. The road, as I have called it, was a narrow winding track that led at once into the sombre shadow of the forest. Before I had followed its sinuous course for five minutes, all trace of the wide river had vanished, and the bright light of day had given place to a soft green twilight by which was revealed the most amazing labyrinth of vegetation that the mind could conceive. On all hands was a confused tangle of leaves and branches, of ferns and great rope-like creepers, piled together in riotous luxuriance and shutting out alike the heavens above and the earth beneath. So indistinct was the trail amidst all this wealth of vegetation that I had to use the utmost exertions to avoid losing sight of my companions, who, more accustomed to such surroundings than I, crashed through the undergrowth at a pace that I could barely keep up with. The ground was terribly rough, too. In some places jagged masses of iron-stone projected from the surface, in others the soil was sodden and boggy; the entire region was a network of small muddy streams, which here and there spread out into swamps, and everywhere great coils of snake-like roots sprawled over the ground and tripped one up at every step. I stumbled on, however, in spite of all obstacles, wading knee-deep in the swamps and vaulting over the fallen trees that constantly barred the way; but it was weary work, and I hailed with relief the sight of a small village, hoping to get at least a few minutes’ rest.