{"id":"01KG8AM5CKF4RJEFRFVV7GTVP1","cid":"bafkreidr5bl5g2lzup72uzdqd3tc3cf7vklzkjcc2ucdsgnvhcv5mbsutu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2152,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":2092,"text":"march, I, being the heaviest, taking the lead, with a view of breaking a\r\npath through the obstruction, while Toby fell into the rear.\r\n\r\nTwo or three times I endeavoured to insinuate myself between the canes,\r\nand by dint of coaxing and bending them to make some progress; but a\r\nbull-frog might as well have tried to work a passage through the teeth\r\nof a comb, and I gave up the attempt in despair.\r\n\r\nHalf wild with meeting an obstacle we had so little anticipated, I threw\r\nmyself desperately against it, crushing to the ground the canes with\r\nwhich I came in contact, and, rising to my feet again, repeated the\r\naction with like effect. Twenty minutes of this violent exercise almost\r\nexhausted me, but it carried us some way into the thicket; when Toby,\r\nwho had been reaping the benefit of my labours by following close at my\r\nheels, proposed to become pioneer in turn, and accordingly passed ahead\r\nwith a view of affording me a respite from my exertions. As however\r\nwith his slight frame he made but bad work of it, I was soon obliged to\r\nresume my old place again. On we toiled, the perspiration starting from\r\nour bodies in floods, our limbs torn and lacerated with the splintered\r\nfragments of the broken canes, until we had proceeded perhaps as far\r\nas the middle of the brake, when suddenly it ceased raining, and the\r\natmosphere around us became close and sultry beyond expression. The\r\nelasticity of the reeds quickly recovering from the temporary pressure\r\nof our bodies, caused them to spring back to their original position;\r\nso that they closed in upon us as we advanced, and prevented the\r\ncirculation of little air which might otherwise have reached us.\r\nBesides this, their great height completely shut us out from the view of\r\nsurrounding objects, and we were not certain but that we might have been\r\ngoing all the time in a wrong direction.\r\n\r\nFatigued with my long-continued efforts, and panting for breath, I felt\r\nmyself completely incapacitated for any further exertion. I rolled up\r\nthe sleeve of my frock, and squeezed the moisture it contained into\r\nmy parched mouth. But the few drops I managed to obtain gave me little\r\nrelief, and I sank down for a moment with a sort of dogged apathy, from\r\nwhich I was aroused by Toby, who had devised a plan to free us from the\r\nnet in which we had become entangled.\r\n\r\nHe was laying about him lustily with his sheath-knive, lopping the canes\r\nright and left, like a reaper, and soon made quite a clearing around us.\r\nThis sight reanimated me; and seizing my own knife, I hacked and hewed\r\naway without mercy. But alas! the farther we advanced the thicker and\r\ntaller, and apparently the more interminable, the reeds became.\r\n\r\nI began to think we were fairly snared, and had almost made up my mind\r\nthat without a pair of wings we should never be able to escape from the\r\ntoils; when all at once I discerned a peep of daylight through the canes\r\non my right, and, communicating the joyful tidings to Toby, we both fell\r\nto with fresh spirit, and speedily opening the passage towards it we\r\nfound ourselves clear of perplexities, and in the near vicinity of the\r\nridge. After resting for a few moments we began the ascent, and after\r\na little vigorous climbing found ourselves close to its summit. Instead\r\nhowever of walking along its ridge, where we should have been in full\r\nview of the natives in the vales beneath, and at a point where they\r\ncould easily intercept us were they so inclined, we cautiously advanced\r\non one side, crawling on our hands and knees, and screened from\r\nobservation by the grass through which we glided, much in the fashion of\r\na couple of serpents. After an hour employed in this unpleasant kind\r\nof locomotion, we started to our feet again and pursued our way boldly\r\nalong the crest of the ridge.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJPECYBC7XNGC94A2ZX51","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4K1M99T4R1WXMBGKQ2B","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM5CKAX771QK9D2B4ABAE","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.051Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:34.184Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}