Whereupon he turned in the direction I
was going; and, though unbidden by a look, I did not hesitate
to follow.
I thought I must have dropped before we reached his village.
This was an osier-bed at the water's side, where the whole
river rushed through a rocky gorge not more than fifty to
sixty yards broad. There were perhaps nearly a hundred
Indians here, two-thirds of whom were women and children.
Their habitations were formed by interlacing the tops of the
osiers. Dogs' skins spread upon the ground and numerous
salmon spears were their only furniture. In a few minutes my
arrival created a prodigious commotion. The whole population
turned out to stare at me. The children ran into the bushes
to hide. But feminine curiosity conquered feminine timidity.
Although I was in the plight of the forlorn Odysseus after
his desperate swim, I had no 'blooming foliage' to wind
[Greek text which cannot be reproduced]. Unlike the
Phaeacian maidens, however, the tawny nymphs were all as
brave as Princess Nausicaa herself. They stared, and
pointed, and buzzed, and giggled, and even touched my skin
with the tips of their fingers - to see, I suppose, if the
white would come off.
But ravenous hunger turned up its nose at flirtation. The
fillets of drying salmon suspended from every bough were a
million times more seductive than the dark Naiads who had
dressed them. Slice after slice I tore down and devoured, as
though my maw were as compendious as Jack the Giant Killer's.
This so astonished and delighted the young women that they
kept supplying me, - with the expectation, perhaps, that
sooner or later I must share the giant's fate.
While this was going on, a conference was being held; and I
had the satisfaction of seeing some men pull up a lot of dead
rushes, dexterously tie them into bundles, and truss these
together by means of spears. They had no canoes, for the
very children were amphibious, living, so it seemed, as much
in the water as out of it. When the raft was completed, I
was invited to embark. My original friend, who had twisted a
tow-rope, took this between his teeth, and led the way.
Others swam behind and beside me to push and to pull. The
force of the water was terrific; but they seemed to care no
more for that than fish. My weight sunk the rush bundles a
good bit below the surface; and to try my nerves, my crew
every now and then with a wild yell dived simultaneously,
dragging the raft and me under water. But I sat tight; and
with genuine friendliness they landed me safely on the
desired shore.
It was quite dark before we set forth. Robinson Crusoe
walked on as if he knew exactly where my camp was.
