There we sat
down to rest and eat, also to discuss the situation.
What was to be done? The arm of stagnant water lay near to us, but we
had no boat with which to cross to the further shore. And what was
that shore? A cave where a creature who seemed to be but half-human,
sat watching like a spider in its web. Do not let it be supposed that
this question of escape had been absent from our minds. On the
contrary, we had even thought of trying to drag the canoe in which we
crossed to and from the island of the Flower through the forest. The
idea was abandoned, however, because we found that being hollowed from
a single log with a bottom four or five inches thick, it was
impossible for us to carry it so much as fifty yards. What then could
we do without a boat? Swimming seemed to be out of the question
because of the crocodiles. Also on inquiry I discovered that of the
whole party Stephen and I alone could swim. Further there was no wood
of which to make a raft.
I called to Hans and leaving the rest in the graveyard where we knew
that they were safe, we went down to the edge of the water to study
the situation, being careful to keep ourselves hidden behind the reeds
and bushes of the mangrove tribe with which it was fringed.
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