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.