"How would they?" asked Hugh, who was engaged in cooling his aching limbs in the tepid water.
"In weed-encumbered water, such as we are likely to encounter. Here, as you see, the river expands, forming a fairly extensive lake, and vegetation is somewhat scarce; but I should not be at all surprised if we have to literally cut our way through the reeds and water lilies lower downstream."
Casting off the rope that held it to the quay, Reeves pushed the boat clear and dipped an oar, Gerald pulling at a second while Hugh steered. A few strokes sufficed to put a fair distance between the shore and the craft, and her bow was pointed downstream. In less than half an hour the ghaut-like crags at the upper end of the lake were lost to view.
CHAPTER XVIII
Reeves's Ruse
ALL the rest of the day the little crew took turns to row their craft downstream. Although there was no wind, and the heat made their exertions doubly hard, the current aided them considerably, its rate being about two miles per hour when once the river contracted. On the lake there was no appreciable drift, a circumstance that gave Reeves the liveliest satisfaction, since he had good reason to believe that no rapids would be met with for some considerable distance.
Just before sunset they anchored the boat in midstream by means of the long rope, tied fast to a heavy stone. Having made sure that their improvised anchor was not dragging, all hands set to to rig the awning for the night, fixing it so that it made a ridge tent instead of the flat surface that had served to keep off the rays of the sun.
As far as they could see, there were no signs of human inhabitants. The dense subtropical forests on either hand were teeming with animal life, gaudily-coloured birds predominating. The water, too, abounded with fish, which snapped eagerly at a bit of cotton cloth wrapped round a bent wire that Hugh employed as a fishing hook.
In a few minutes a dozen good-sized fish were floundering about on the bottom of the boat; but, fearful lest some of these should be poisonous, Reeves threw them all overboard, with the exception of three resembling dace, only much larger. These were cooked over a fire made upon a large flat stone, which had apparently been used for a similar purpose before, and were pronounced excellent.
Throughout the night, watches were set, this precaution being deemed necessary in spite of the isolated position of their floating camp; but, beyond the constant noise of the animal life in the forests, nothing occurred to disturb the slumbers of those of the crew who were not keeping a long and tedious vigil.