Landtakers: The Story of an Epoch

The loss of the gun had a strange psychological effect. Realizing suddenly, as he lay gasping for breath, that without a gun he would starve in this inhospitable country, he began to feel hungry, despite the paralysing agony of his indigestion. From this it followed that unless he found the shanty soon he must starve to death.

He jumped to his feet and pulled on his clothes. Then he remembered the duck he had thrown away three nights before. He undressed, waded into the water again, and reswam the river. After searching for half an hour, he found the remains of the meat buried in the mud. It was foul, but he swallowed a few mouthfuls, and swam the river a third time. By now the midsummer sun was flaming down from a cloudless sky. Flails of heat beat across his raw back, but he was done up and incapable for the moment even of pulling on a shirt. At last he dressed and dragged himself to a thin patch of shade behind a rock. There he lay till midday before he could get strength to set out.