Читать книгу Through British Guiana to the summit of Roraima онлайн

19 страница из 21

At length the moon, which was full, cleared somewhat, and Lekha decided to risk the attempt of climbing the rapid. Nelly and Potaro were lashed side by side and, steaming together, were to surmount the rapid. But the first attempt failed. We steamed up, gaining ground inch by inch, till, just as we were at the crest of the rapid, Nelly’s engines stopped again, and we had to slide back. Next time, however, Potaro made the attempt towing Nelly as dead-weight, and just did it. Lekha then said that Potaro drew too much water to continue safely upstream, as she might hit on a sand-bank. But I declared that I would prefer any fate to that of returning to Nelly; and Lekha, who was really a sportsman, agreed to transfer our few belongings to the bigger launch and take us on. Two miles above Crabbu Falls we entered the mouth of the Potaro River, and puffed our hesitating way over its black course, the moon having disappeared again as soon as she had seen us safely surmount the rapid. Darkness, of course, hid from us the lovely view of blue mountain ranges, which we have subsequently seen from Potaro mouth, hills which verily looked to us the “delectable mountains.” We reached Tumatumari, ten miles up the Potaro, shortly before midnight, as tired as dinnerless folk well could be; but that was the only really unpleasant day of all our forty days in the wilderness.