After A Good Hour And More Of These Experiences, We
Went Hard On To A Large Black Reef Of Rocks.
So firm was the canoe
wedged that we in our rather worn-out state couldn't move her so we
wisely decided to "lef 'em" and see what could be done towards
getting food and a fire for the remainder of the night.
Our eyes,
now trained to the darkness, observed pretty close to us a big lump
of land, looming up out of the river. This we subsequently found
out was Kembe Island. The rocks and foam on either side stretched
away into the darkness, and high above us against the star-lit sky
stood out clearly the summits of the mountains of the Sierra del
Cristal.
The most interesting question to us now was whether this rock reef
communicated sufficiently with the island for us to get to it.
Abandoning conjecture; tying very firmly our canoe up to the rocks,
a thing that seemed, considering she was jammed hard and immovable,
a little unnecessary - but you can never be sufficiently careful in
this matter with any kind of boat - off we started among the rock
boulders. I would climb up on to a rock table, fall off it on the
other side on to rocks again, with more or less water on them - then
get a patch of singing sand under my feet, then with varying
suddenness get into more water, deep or shallow, broad or narrow
pools among the rocks; out of that over more rocks, etc., etc.,
etc.: my companions, from their noises, evidently were going in for
the same kind of thing, but we were quite cheerful, because the
probability of reaching the land seemed increasing.
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