Did he ? ' said Una . ` Nay . She was the ship 's bird . She could call all the rowers by name ... Those were good days -- for a wifeless man -- with Witta and his heathen -- beyond the world 's end . ... After many weeks we came on the great Shoal which stretched , as Witta 's father had said , far out to sea . We skirted it till we were giddy with the sight and dizzy with the sound of bars and breakers , and when we reached land again we found a naked black people dwelling among woods , who for one wedge of iron loaded us with fruits and grasses and eggs . Witta scratched his head at them in sign he would buy gold . They had no gold , but they understood the sign -LRB- all the gold-traders hide their gold in their thick hair -RRB- , for they pointed along the coast . They beat , too , on their chests with their clenched hands , and that , if we had known it , was an evil sign . ' ` What did it mean ? ' said Dan . ` Patience . Ye shall hear . We followed the coast eastward sixteen days -LRB- counting time by sword-cuts on the helm-rail -RRB- till we came to the Forest in the Sea . Trees grew there out of mud , arched upon lean and high roots , and many muddy waterways ran all whither into darkness , under the trees . Here we lost the sun . We followed the winding channels between the trees , and where we could not row we laid hold of the crusted roots and hauled ourselves along . The water was foul , and great glittering flies tormented us . Morning and evening a blue mist covered the mud , which bred fevers .
Four of our XXXXX sickened , and were bound to their benches , lest they should leap overboard and be eaten by the monsters of the mud .
Dan Morning Shoal Witta days evening rowers sword-cuts weeks whither