The next stage was down a sort of "chimney"--a long
irregular fissure; and so with scratches many and painful and
bruises not a few, we finally reached the stream.
It was darker there, but we felt it highly necessary to put as
much distance as possible behind us; so we waded, jumped, and
clambered down that rocky riverbed, in the flickering black and
white moonlight and leaf shadow, till growing daylight forced a halt.
We found a friendly nut-tree, those large, satisfying, soft-
shelled nuts we already knew so well, and filled our pockets.
I see that I have not remarked that these women had pockets
in surprising number and variety. They were in all their garments,
and the middle one in particular was shingled with them. So we stocked
up with nuts till we bulged like Prussian privates in marching order,
drank all we could hold, and retired for the day.
It was not a very comfortable place, not at all easy to get at,
just a sort of crevice high up along the steep bank, but it was well
veiled with foliage and dry.
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