CHAPTER XXII

THROUGH  THE  HINTERLAND

CHIEFS AND TREATIES—{continued)

I HAD now to penetrate the land of the warlike Sofas,
whose name was a terror to all the tribes. Upon leaving
Kolahun I proceeded to this Sofa country, which is now
beyond our sphere of influence. The residence of the
paramount chief was at the great war town of Pandeme,
the most notorious place in the whole upper country. The
last twenty miles of the journey was about as bad a bit ol
travelling as one could well encounter. The country
throughout was hilly, much of it being bare granite, with
ranges of forest-covered mountains in all directions. In
this march we had to cut our way through a general com¬
bination of all the impediments we had hitherto met, and
all our difficulties were greatly increased. The network
of entangled creepers and vines swooping down from the
tall trees in the primeval forest gave us a great deal of
trouble. The country was thoroughly wild, with bad
quagmires, swamps, confused morasses and jungles of
palms and tall cane-brakes, which completely enveloped
my men with their loads and me in my hammock. Some¬
times we had  to  descend  gorges of considerable depth,

Q 2