Instead of this she was thrown on
her side with the bottom of the boat held against the rock while I
found myself thrown out of the boat, but hanging to the gunwale. Then
the boat swung around and instantly turned upright while I scrambled
back into the cockpit. Looking over my shoulder, when I had things
well in hand again, I saw my brother was still at the camera, white as
a sheet, but turning at the crank as if our entire safety depended on
it. After I landed the water-filled boat, however, he confessed to me
that he had no idea whether he had caught the upset or not, as he may
have resumed the work when he saw that I was safe.
Then we went to work to find out what damage was done. First we found
that the case, which was supposed to be waterproof, had a half-inch of
water inside, but fortunately none of our films were wet. Some plates
which we had just exposed and which were still in the holders were
soaked. The cameras also had suffered. We hurriedly wiped off the
surplus water and piled these things on the shore, then emptied the
boat of a few barrels of water.
This one experience, I suppose, should have been enough for me with
that rapid, but I foolishly insisted on making another trial at it
with the _Edith_, for I felt sure I could make it if I only had
another chance, and the fact that Emery had the empty boat at the end
of the rapid and could rescue me if an upset occurred greatly lessened
the danger.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187