316 The Unknown River. 



waistcoat, the current is tremendous.' ' I'm not afraid 

 of death,' he answered with unfeigned courage. 



He had hardly spoken the words, when, in attempting 

 to cross the rapid to avoid an ugly piece of polished 

 granite, about the shape and color of a whitened skull, 

 I found it could not be done without uncommon effort, 

 and broke the paddle in trying. Of course, after that, 

 the upset was inevitable. The doctor did not stir, but 

 smoked tranquilly still, not uttering a single word ; the 

 canoe was carried against the granite, broadside on. She 

 rose upon it a foot or two, then slipped to the right a 

 little, the stern dipped, the water clasped me round the 

 waist and filled the well, and she (slowly as it seemed) 

 capsized. Just as she went over, but not before, I saw 

 the doctor throw away his cigar. Once in the water I 

 found myself hurried along irresistibly, but soon got my 

 head clear, and hoped, by surface swimming, to escape 

 contusions on the knees. In this way I got down the 

 rapid quite safely, and was hurled at last into a deep 

 pool, where, after the first plunge, I felt comparatively at 

 ease. Finding it impossible to land on the rocky side, I 

 allowed myself to float into an eddy, and was quietly car- 

 ried out of the central current into a sort of tiny haven 

 or bay, where I landed. 



It then became necessary to think about the doctor. 

 He was not far behind. Like myself he had been car- 

 ried down the rapid, and was now bobbing about in the 

 great pool, thanks to the inflated waistcoat. But he had 

 not the slightest notion about directing himself, and had 

 got into a cercle vicieux, in a whirlpool that turned him 



