36 DAHLAK 



which is strangely disquieting. No force can stop it, no 

 creature can escape it, its appointment with the stars is 

 unaherable. I often stood alone on the island's edge watching 

 the tide come in. The hermit-crabs would hurriedly coil into 

 their shell homes, and the crabs dart for their holes. The 

 oyster-catchers, crab-plovers and herons would ruffle their 

 feathers in agitation, while the few who had already taken 

 flight screamed hoarsely in the sky. As I watched the tide 

 advance I was aware of an intense emotion, a desire to flee 

 too, to run back and escape the oncoming water that was 

 engulfing the world around me. I resisted almost with horror 

 till the hot foam touched me, gripped my feet, passed me 

 and drank me in. That first lick of foam was almost alarming. 

 I felt I was an unimportant bit of nature and was humbled, 

 yet at the same time happy. 



At midday the forest of Sheikh Said was flooded. The 

 water rose to a couple of feet, and while the kites and vultures 

 settled on their enormous briar nests in the mangroves, the 

 stingrays hid flattened among the roots. The temperature of 

 the water was 98° F and the atmosphere 104° F in the shade. 



We carried out several explorations in the forest, leaving 

 the boat anchored to the first tree we came to and proceeding 

 through the thick mud on foot, sinking up to our calves. 

 We had been warned that there were quick-sands here, but 

 this must have been pure imagination; one sank in, yes, but 

 no deeper than eighteen inches, and under this lay a firm 

 footing. It was hopeless walking in shoes, as they stuck at 

 each step and usually came off'; but it was equally hopeless 

 to walk without them as the ground erupted with short 

 sharp reeds that made it like a fakir's bed. However, looking 

 into that dense verdure through which could be seen neither 

 sky nor sea, curiosity so got the better of us that we would 

 have endured anything to penetrate it. Although we were 



