C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

Moods, Rapidsond [slandsIIIThe afternoon was even more strenuous. We were all four of us still on theisland, with deep water on either side when the guides put us ashore again on theright bank and returned to their tracking on the left one. We climbed again andwere forced down by the obstacle of sheer rocks, to a ravine full of mud at themouth of a tributary. The mud was spread out fan-wise and was fairly deep. Uptill now Eddy's boots had saved the situation and Gwen's foot had stood upwonderfully to the rough going, but she found these muddy crossings difficultand when Lazarus saw her floundering along with painful steps, he and Jimmycame over and took her into the canoe for a short spell and then she travelled likeCleopatra in her barge, with Lazarus waist-deep in the water pushing her on andJimmy ahead hauling on the rope. Her respite, however, was a short one, for wecame to a shallow rapid boiling near the shore and the four of us had to haul andpush until we got the canoe through. Then we went on again, with a spell of easierprogress, but we were wet above the knees, there was thunder rolling round thegreen hills that enclosed us ... and a shower of rain had fallen. Again we werefilled with anxiety.We stopped to make tea for half an hour and after that came the worst experienceof the whole journey. I do not know to this day what Gwen's feelings were;she was always lion-hearted. For myself I never shall forget that hour when westood alone on the muskeg, for the most part in silence, on a ten feet cliff abovethe river and I was face-to-face with naked fear. The guides had returned to theother bank, Lazarus saying that we would only do a short spell more that day andthey would cross back very soon to rejoin us. At this point, many islands split theriver and our guides were at once lost to view. We went on over an easy stretch ofground, keeping, as we knew, well ahead of the men, for, whether they weretracking or pushing and pulling, their progress through the water was bound tobe slower than ours on land. Mter a while we came out into an open stretch ofmuskeg where the river was clear of islands. Here, the current was not more thana few hundred yards wide and although it was fairly swift we judged that the twowould be able to cross over to us and then push up our bank until we found a levellanding-place.At first, we stood in that open place in the usual cloud of mosquitoes, happyand hopeful, feeling that it had been a grand though somewhat toilsome day andthat we were appreciably nearer the height of land. Then a vague fear took hold ofme; at first it was like that little cloud in the Bible, no bigger than a man's hand.Why were they so long in coming? If they had capsized and been swept downriver