294 Union Bay 



to push my way through and soon found myself situated so 

 that I could neither go forward nor backward. I considered 

 the matter. I was in the midst of the many exposed little flats 

 on the west side of the bay. Deep water was near but which 

 way? Traffic sounds indicated general directions but could 

 not help me determine the windings of an irregular shore. 

 Must I wait on this two or three acres of flat until the fog 

 cleared? This was farcical adventure: to be stuck on a bar 

 not ten minutes from the canoehouse. I was almost disgusted 

 until I thought of Herbie. He would have considered it a 

 time for realistic endeavor. He would have been a Tasman 

 ashore on the barrier reef of Australia, or a pirate faced with 

 the problem of getting his ship in shape to meet the tidal" 

 bore as it approached the South American beach where he 

 was stranded. If Herbie could welcome such an apparent 

 impasse, I ought to take my difficulty calmly. I started 

 straight ahead and aided my progress by throwing my weight 

 forward as I paddled. I gained a few yards and stopped al- 

 most breathless beside a small projecting branch. I suppose 

 there are a thousand such sticks in the marsh, but rare luck 

 had put me alongside one of the few branches that I would 

 have recognized. I knew this one because there was a curi- 

 ous knot at the top which so resembled the snake-like head 

 of the pied-billed grebe that I never passed the stick without 

 noting it. I realized then almost to the foot where I was— only 

 a fishrod's distance between me and a small channel which 

 followed the shore line. I lunged and poled my way into it 

 with no feeling that skill had been responsible for my release. 

 So many flats were exposed in this area that I determined 

 to go along the shore where I could recognize my position. I 

 knew of no other way to get through this baffling invisibility. 

 In addition, more wildlife would be near shore than on the 

 open water. The fog still enveloped everything. I wondered 

 what the Indians thought of these dense visitations. Did they 

 fear them as they did night? Did they hold some particular 



