Page 329 - The Tigris Expedition

From Asia to Africa; from Meluhha to Punt
mangrove labyrinth of the Indus delta. They had gone to salvage a
Greek ship grounded in the swamps, but pirates had already
stripped the vessel completely before Jason arrived.
Clear of the anchorage we hoisted our sails. Our helpful compan­
ions recovered their tow-line and returned to port. The last words
the bearded skipper of the yacht shouted back was a generous offer
to purchase Tigris after use. If we cabled him whenever and
wherever our voyage ended, he would send a ship to fetch the
reed-ship for exhibition.
Thick smog covered the view of the big city beyond the anchor­
age. In the last few years Karachi had grown from a mere 700,000
inhabitants to well over five million. There was a sheen of surface
oil far out to sea. Two porpoises were rolling up through the slick.
A little mouse came peeping up between the reed bundles and then
ran into hiding. Perhaps it was the one we had carried with us since
we left the Garden of Eden.
We could still see the masts of the anchored ships, like a sunken
forest along the horizon behind us, when the north wind died
completely. Steering problems ensued. The wind came back in faint
gusts, but from the south. The bow turned back towards Karachi.
We had to row to get about. By now we had at least learnt enough
to hold our own against the wind. The day passed and the distant
forest of masts off Karachi was still there, though displaced far
towards the west. A tidal current dragged us eastwards in the
direction of the Indus delta. As night came we saw all the lights
from the anchored ships and the city-glow behind. We threw out
the sea-anchor for whatever it was worth.
We had noticed that both bow and stern had sagged slightly
during our stay in Pakistan. Carlo took charge of the job of
tightening all mast stays, and the ropes holding the cabins to deck,
and the flexible reed-ship straightway resumed perfect lines. All the
men were in the best of spirits, although most of us had indeed been
in better shape physically. Our two out-board seats were constantly
occupied. Asbjorn and Norris were the worst affected. I got sudden
kidney pains, and Norman had a new attack ofhis mysterious fever,
causing Yuri to suspect malaria, although Norman had been the one
who had been taking pills regularly. Norman had such self-control
during his repeated spells of fever that nobody knew for sure, until
it was confirmed by a laboratory analysis after the voyage, that
Norman had actually had malaria. The atmosphere was still mar­
kedly one of joy and laughter, the visits to Ormara and Mohenjo-
Daro had been great stimuli to us all, while unknown adventures
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