8o I N A G U A 



rock, stealing it a particle at a time, hollowing away the weak 

 spots, boring holes, leaving sharp ridges and spines. The sea, 

 too, had advanced and was gnawing steadily at the cHff face, 

 breaking up the boulders and crushing them into sand again; 

 into whitened grains to be drifted once more. The task was 

 half done, the hills were carved neatly in twain. In a few years, 

 or a few centuries, Babylon would be returned to the Mother 

 Ocean which gave it birth. 



The trip over the chff s occupied the better portion of a day 

 and cut the bottoms of my inexpensive sneakers off my feet. 

 The bladed stone swiftly sliced the crepe rubber to ribbons, 

 tore out the crinkled latex bit by bit, stripping the soles and heels 

 away. In linear distance the ancient dunes did not extend more 

 than six or seven miles; but for every foot of forward progress 

 I climbed or descended two or three; each inch had to be negoti- 

 ated carefully, painstakingly. These shoes had been adequate 

 for the yielding sand of the beaches and for the flat rock of the 

 interior but three hours on the razor rocks of Babylon ruined 

 them forever. 



Modem living has unfitted us; we are too dependent on 

 the habiliments of civilization. Without shoes I was as helpless 

 as a day-old rabbit. We take our foot coverings for granted, 

 giving them scant attention except to polish them daily; to 

 groan temporarily, perhaps, when they are new and stiff; or, 

 perhaps, to make certain we are clad in the most proper and 

 latest styles. Like handkerchiefs, or knives, or forks, or napkins, 

 we become acutely aware of their existence only when they are 

 absent. Within the short space of three hours my thoughts al- 

 tered from the problems of Aeolian geology and the ecological 

 relationships of lizards to shoes; the lack of shoes changed me 

 instantly from a student of natural science to a limping autom- 

 aton intent only on the problems of feet. The sudden demand 

 for footgear dominated my universe, canceled all other con- 



