62 
SURVIVAL ON LAND AND SEA 
pieces together with vines or fibrous strips of bark. Sections 
of bamboo, because of their hollow air-filled segments, make 
the best rafts if that type of growth is available. Fibrous 
woods, such as the palms, do not float well and will soon sink. 
While drifting down stream on a raft keep your ears open for 
the roar of rapids or falls so that you don’t get caught and 
swept over them. You may have to abandon several rafts in 
the course of your journey and build new ones, but that is better 
than trying to ride out a bad stretch of water. 
If the stream is too small or too shallow to float a raft you 
may have to follow along it on foot. In many cases it is im- 
possible to travel through the heavy vegetation growing along the 
banks. On the ridge above, however, you will usually find the 
trees and bushes more open and may even strike a trail, although 
it probably won’t be as sharp and clear cut as trails in your own 
woods. The forest people are great travelers within limited 
areas and follow the easiest routes. 
Always remember to take your time. You will make better 
headway if you do. If you come to a bog or swamp, go around it; 
don’t try to fight your way through; you might get caught hip 
deep in muck. If a tree has fallen across a trail, travel around 
it, not through its branches. It will take longer and use up more 
energy than going around and you are less likely to become con- 
fused if you don’t get entangled in vegetation. At sunny clear- 
ings or. openings in the main forest the scrubby second growth 
may almost or completely obliterate the path. In such cases cross 
the clearing and work along* its edge until you again find the 
trail among the trees. If you come to a fork, take the path that 
seems to have had the most travel. Never follow one that is 
closed by a string, rope, grass mat, or some other obvious barrier. 
