Had I not seen it for myself I would never have believed that a river could switch so rapidly from untamed ferocity to placid calm. ‘Rivers are like those serpents that swallow a deer or calf entire,’ Abram explained to me. It was two days later and our little flotilla was gliding between banks thick with willow and poplar. In bright morning sunshine the swallows swooped and scythed over the silk-smooth, shimmering surface of the river, snatching up insects. Where the river divided around large islands it isolated patches of untouched wilderness, and the undergrowth along the bank teemed with wildlife. There were glimpses of otters, and startlingly bright blue streaks as kingfishers launched from low-hanging branches and sped away. All manner of small water creatures swam across our path, drawing out their telltale ripples. ‘The prey becomes a bulge inside the serpent,’ the dragoman explained. ‘The bulge passes along the serpent’s length as the beast digests.
What do You think about Saxon: The Emperor's Elephant?
