Thus the sight of the islands was a great relief to us, and my ever-faithful and considerate companion remarked that as we had nothing to fear now, and I was weary with my vigil of the previous night, I had better try and get a little sleep.
Accordingly I lay down on the catamaran, and had barely extended my limbs when I fell fast asleep.

I awoke two or three hours later, at mid-day, and was surprised to find that our catamaran was not moving.

I raised myself up, only to find that we had apparently drifted among the tops of a ring of trees rising from a submerged island.

"Halloa!" I said to Yamba, "are we stuck ?" "No," she replied quietly, "but look round." You may judge of my horror and amazement when I saw outside the curious ring of tree-tops, scores of huge alligators peering at us with horrid stolidity through the branches, some of them snapping their capacious jaws with a viciousness that left no doubt as to its meaning.

Yamba explained to me that she had been obliged to take refuge in this peculiar but convenient shelter, because the alligators seemed to be swarming in vast numbers in that part of the river.