📸 Photo

tasted monkey. I was nauseated by it, but my hunger overcame my disgust. Marcus and I tried to choose nondescript pieces of meat from the breast and loins. Kevin was less squeamish and sat there smacking his lips.

'I'll be damned, it's really good.'

Karl savoured every bite. He grasped a thigh and tore the flesh from it with his teeth.

We shortly came to the Cocus River. Travelling along it was astoundingly beautiful. The Cocus was different from the Asriamas. The farther downriver we went, the more streams ran into it, and the wider, deeper, and more powerful it became. Walking in the river was very difficult, more so for me because the wound on my hand was still painful. We chose each step carefully. Progress was slow. We came upon deep pools and waterfalls and had no choice but to climb up into the jungle and hack our way through the foliage until we came to a place where the river was shallow again.

Karl's boots were now entirely shapeless, yawning with wide holes. He wrapped them in nylon bags and used rope to secure them to his ankles. His feet were covered with blisters, but he didn't complain. He only paused now and then to tighten the ropes. Once in a while he stopped to examine the rocks at the water's edge, looking for traces of gold and other minerals.

By afternoon we were exhausted. We stopped to rest, and Karl gave us each a slab of monkey meat.