In Training for Work 77 



awash. The men who proposed to guide it in 

 its course of hundreds of miles appear pigmies 

 as they pressed against the huge sweeps which 

 serve as rudders at either end, or attempted 

 to avoid sandbanks by the aid of long bam- 

 boos. In practice, they could do little to in- 

 fluence the course of the raft : should it ground 

 badly in a falling stream they were powerless 

 to relaunch it, and if a storm arose and lashed 

 the broad waterway into foam, they thought 

 only of seeking safety on the nearest firm land 

 they could find. 



In such times of stress assistance from others 

 could not be reckoned on, for the river banks 

 were infested with pirates whose livelihood was 

 gained by stealing timber in transit to the sea 

 coast. These men would cut the lashings of 

 the raft as it lay alongside the bank in calm 

 weather, and then follow the single logs as 

 they floated away, and tow them into hiding 

 before morning. But in times of stress their 

 opportunities were still greater, for with luck 

 they might overpower the crew and disperse 

 several hundred logs over the waterway where 



