There was no smoke, no evidence of life anywhere visible, no sign of habitation; all was wilderness.

The snag on which I rested was nearly in the center of the great river, an ugly mass of dead wood, sodden with water, forking out of the stream, with grotesque limbs thrust up into the air.

The force of the current had driven the nose of the boat so firmly beneath one branch as to sink it below the surface, making it impossible to be freed.

In the dull light I struggled hopelessly to extricate the craft, my feet slipping on the water-soaked log.

Twice I fell into the stream, barely able to clamber back again, but my best efforts were without results.