Now that I had arrived, I wished I knew more about this continent. I only knew what the chaplain of the 9th and Maxwell had taught me. I looked around, seeing a never-ending beach marked by high surf, with mountains inland. I saw what remained of our gig, a splintered wreck, with half the timber smashed. We had no way back and nowhere to go.
“Are you fit?” Maxwell asked me.
I nodded, although I had hardly been less fit in my life. Whatever happened, good or bad, my future lay in Africa.
“Then let’s find water,” Maxwell said.
We walked along the beach, putting one foot in front of the other, with all our strength concentrated on the necessity to keep moving. Sea birds screamed overhead, mocking us with their cries. We were shipwrecked mariners, and although some people may find that con
