A NASTY RAPID 
on the opposite side of the river that we could possibly 
take the canoe down, and no other course was open to us 
than to go across that dangerous spot. 
We had to be smart about it, or we certainly should 
have perished. My men behaved splendidly. We had 
reloaded the canoe. The quarter of an hour or so which 
it took us to cross that basin was somewhat exciting, as 
we struggled through the various whirlpools, the current 
all the time dragging us closer and closer to the waterfall, 
while my men were paddling with all their might, and 
Alcides was steering right against the current in order 
to prevent the fatal leap. 
I urged the men on, and they paddled and paddled, 
their eyes fixed on the fall, which was by that time only 
a few metres away from us. They were exhausted by 
the frantic effort, and their paddles seemed to have no 
effect in propelling the canoe. The men, who were always 
talkative, were now silent; only the man X exclaimed, 
as we were only eight or ten metres from the fall: “ Good¬ 
bye, father and mother! I shall never see you again!” 
The other men gave a ghastly grin. 
“Go on! Row! row! — For God’s sake, row!” I 
shouted to them, as I saw they had given themselves up 
for lost. “Row!” I shouted once more; and as if the 
strength had suddenly come back to them, they made a 
frantic effort. The canoe went a little faster for a 
minute or two — just enough for us to clear the waterfall 
and to drift alongside some rocks which stood in the centre 
of the stream. We were saved. 
My men were so exhausted that we had to rest there 
for some time before we could proceed to cross the 
dreadful rapid down the other portion of the barrier. 
I was glad we had had that experience, because it 
showed me that after all it was possible to make brave 
men of men who had appeared absolutely pusillanimous 
before. 
125 
