Max Pemberton

“ But, an hour after noon they entered a great pool, which Fisher called a glade of the waters—a pool arched over with poplars and tropic-like leaves, and bordered with ripe green banks which were almost hid by the blue and the scarlet and the yellow of innumerable flowers. So seductive was the haven, so full of dreamy, silence, so alluring to one who could scarce stand with fatigue, that Fisher brought the punt against its banks, and, not daring to tell all its delights to a man who could see none of them, he said—
"There's a fine place to land, if yon think it's time." ”

“ Then Fisher, who lay in the prow like a cat, used his arms with silent strength, and thrust the unwieldy tub again into the stream, where she was caught quickly and whirled onward through the meadows of maize to the heart of the great valley below the mountains.
For another hour the weary men endured the confinement of the punt and the full heat of the unclouded sun. ”

“ Had it not been for the thick bush which lay between the stream and his camping-place the voyage would have ended upon the spot; but it chanced that the tangle of weeds held the punt momentarily still; the noise ceased; the man saw nothing; he kicked his companion, swore at him, drank something from a bottle, and composed himself to sleep again. ”