Cerberus might easily
be waiting for us there. He would have scarcely time to fawn upon
us till we should go shooting past him into the Pit.
But after all the river was not shallow up in the mountain. It
only turned to the west and swifter than ever, we flew down with
its current, no longer smooth and dark, but broken into white water
over a broader bed of smooth-worn boulders, till three miles below
we passed out into a quiet expansion, where the tension relaxed and
with minds at ease we could draw in long, satisfying breaths.
The travelling day was a short one during this part of the trip,
and I wondered often how the men stood the strain. Once I asked
Job if running rapids did not tire him very much. He answered,
"Yes," with a smile and look of surprise that I should understand
such a thing.
The nights were made hideous by the mosquitoes, and I slept little.
The loss of sleep made rapid running trying, and after a
particularly bad night I would sit trembling with excitement as we
raced down the slope. It was most difficult to resist the impulse
to grasp the sides of the canoe, and to compel myself instead to
sit with hands clasped about my knee, and muscles relaxed so that
my body might lend itself to the motion of the canoe. Sometimes as
we ran towards the west the river glittered so in the afternoon
sunshine that it was impossible to tell what the water was doing.
This made it necessary to land now and again, so that Job might go
forward and look over the course. As the bow of the canoe turned
inshore, the current caught the stern and whirled it round with
such force and suddenness, that only the quick setting of a paddle
on the shoreward side kept the little craft from being dashed to
pieces against the rocks.
On Thursday, August 24th, I wrote in my diary: "Such a nice sleep
last night albeit blankets and 'comfortable' so wet (the stopper of
my hot-water bottle had not been properly screwed in the night
before and they were soaked). Beautiful morning. Mountains ahead
standing out against the clear sky with delicate clouds of white
mist hanging along their sides or veiling the tops. One just at
the bend is very, very fine. It reminds me of an Egyptian pyramid.
Job is not feeling well this morning and it bothers me. I asked
him if it were too many rapids.
