UPS AND DOWNS 
bivalves as the tide receded, the incessant rain, the 
inky blackness of the night, and the unmistakable 
presence of innumerable crocodiles. Fortunately we 
did not know then that only a short time before, near 
this place, two natives had had a desperate fight with 
a crocodile, which lifted one of them right out of their 
canoe; the other fought the crocodile gallantly, and 
managed to get his companion back into the boat, 
when the saurian, nothing daunted, returned to the 
attack, and seized the poor fellow again, dismembering 
him. 
Although we had not the knowledge of this 
accident to add to our troubles, that night in Bioto 
Creek, which we spent cramped up in the most un- 
comfortable position, was probably the most unenviable 
I have ever passed. Darkness fell at 6.30; at 
3.30 A.M. we were very glad to welcome the moon- 
rise, and saw the light gradually silhouette the dense 
matted branches of the mangrove. About 4 A.M. we 
left our anchorage, and the dawn saw us well on our 
voyage to Pokama. It was wonderful on our arrival 
there how soon, under the influence of a good bath, 
clean clothes, a white table-cloth, and a decent meal, 
we forgot the horrors of the night that had just passed. 
From Pokama we went on to Hall Sound, where 
we were fortunate enough to find the ketch St. Andrew 
about to sail, and on board that boat we secured a 
passage. Setting out on the 4th May, we were often 
badly becalmed, and on the third day we lay ten miles 
off the coast for the whole twenty-four hours. On the 
oth we sighted an islet thirty miles from Thursday 
Island. This we passed safely, but at 1.30 a strong 
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