Then there were storms and risings of the water over great areas of the low-lying lands; and there were periods of hunger and misery when we were kept prisoners in the trees for days and days by these transient floods.
Very strong upon me is one picture.

Large trees are about us, and from their branches hang gray filaments of moss, while great creepers, like monstrous serpents, curl around the trunks and writhe in tangles through the air.

And all about is the mud, soft mud, that bubbles forth gases, and that heaves and sighs with internal agitations.

And in the midst of all this are a dozen of us.

We are lean and wretched, and our bones show through our tight-stretched skins.