Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV.—A Glorious Forest
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
40 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
then off we went again, racing between the islands. I
confess my heart was in my mouth ; I began to wonder
whether we should have time to pull up or should plunge
headlong over the cataract.
At length I heard a distant roar. Louder and louder
it grew as we advanced. Before we knew where we were,
we were in the middle of the first of the rapids, with the
water foaming and thundering about us in an alarming way.
Stopping was out of the question. I ran to the bow, and
surveyed the situation. If there was no treacherous whirl-
pool boiling at the foot of the " threshold," we should get
through all right. " Let her go, straight over the fall !
"
I cried ; and bringing her head straight with the current,
the men let her go, and over the boiling water she glided
at dizzying speed.
Hardly had we passed this "dangerous" place when
a score or so of men on horseback and on foot appeared
on the bank. They were countrymen sent from two or three
of the neighbouring homesteads to help us over the rapids.
But they were more amazed at the sight of our floating
monster than at the information that we had already
navigated the falls without mishap. And yet these men
appeared very opportunely for us ; because a little bit
further down, where the river widened out and became
exceptionally shallow, we got stuck helplessly fast in the
blue clay at the bottom. I and all the men dropped into
the water and floundered about barefoot for an unconscion-
able time, trying to find a navigable channel ; nine inches
of water were quite sufficient to float us.
" There !
" thought I to myself. " Is my proud river-
journey to come to an abrupt termination here ? No, it
shall not ; we must, we will go further." All our baggage,
down to the very smallest case and package, was trans-
ferred to the bank. Then, uniting all our forces, we
began to push the ferry-boat like a sledge over the blue
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
