1^6 I N A G U A 



Hour after hour I forged ahead. It was grueling work. 

 While the water was not particularly deep, it reached over my 

 waist, making footing difficult. The heavy boat had to be kept 

 continually in the wind for as soon as it went slightly broad- 

 side it became unmanageable. To make matters worse the 

 waves began breaking over the top and I had to bail continu- 

 ally, using my shirt as a sponge. The excessive salt irritated my 

 skin and made my eyes burn; in addition the sun created a 

 glare that very soon gave me an excruciating headache, al- 

 though I am not normally susceptible to this malady. 



About three in the afternoon I was nearly out of sight of 

 land, although the island on the horizon had loomed a little 

 higher. I felt completely out of my element and was beginning 

 to grow very weary. The waves were running as high as 

 ever and the bottom had dropped slightly until only my head 

 and shoulders protruded. Progress was maddeningly slow; I 

 could just catch enough purchase with my toes to make a 

 little headway; at times I stepped into holes and had to swim 

 for a few yards until I could touch bottom again or drift back 

 to the edge where I dropped off and circle the depression. At 

 an hour before dark I estimated I had waded eight or ten miles 

 and I was bordering on exhaustion. The island was still a mile 

 or two distant; as far as I could see the lake swept on and on; 

 I was very nearly in the center of it. 



When I reached land just as it was growing dark I was so 

 tired I could scarcely stand and when I found that the borders 

 of the island were beset with an impassable barrier of prickly 

 pear yards deep, I sat down in the mud by the shore in dis- 

 gust and despair. I could not spend the night sleeping in the 

 slime and water so I unlimbered my machete and hacked 

 gingerly at the soft pads. The sharp spines pierced my fingers 

 and stuck into my legs, but eventually I cut a narrow path 

 through the barrier and slumped on the dry sand behind. But 



