188 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



them with a paddle, they reached deeper water 

 and, sinking quickly, disappeared. The next 

 thing I knew, the canoe was lifted high into the 

 air, and we were dumped into the water. 



"I struck on my back, and at the same 

 moment something hit me a terrific blow that 

 drove me beneath the surface. There I was 

 bumped and jostled about for what seemed an 

 age. When at last I came to the surface, I 

 saw that both the canoes were bottom side up 

 and that the men were floundering in the river. 

 A long, black arm shot out of the water in front 

 of me. I seized it with my left hand and swam 

 with the half-drowned boatman to the canoe, 

 where I supported him until he stopped choking 

 and coughing. 



"Two men were clinging to the mail-sack 

 buoys and shouting for dear life. Another 

 fellow, hanging to the second canoe, was hold- 

 ing up a companion who had been stunned by 

 a glancing blow on the head when the canoe 

 fell back into the water. No one was seriously 

 hurt. 



"The natives in the village, attracted by the 

 rifle-shot and the shouts, could see our predic- 

 ament from the high bank. Some came to our 



