But when I could
see right into the gorge, I found that it was steep and higher than
I thought. My foes would be able to meet me by the time I was at
the top.
There was no other place that I could see, for none could climb
from the foot of the cliffs elsewhere, since if he reached the
rocks he would have to stay where he leapt to them. So as there was
no help for it, I headed for the open sea. No doubt, I thought, I
should find some landing place along the coast before I had gone
far, and meanwhile I was getting a fair start of the enemy, who
would have to follow the windings of the cliffs if they cared to
come after me.
I pulled therefore for the eastern end of the cove, opposite to the
place where the ship lay, and so rounded the point and was out in
the open and tossing on the waves in a way that tried my rowing
sorely, for I am but a fresh-water boatman. Lucky it was for me
that there was little sea on, or I should have fared badly. Then I
pulled eastward, and against the tide also, but that was a thing
that I did not know.
The boat was wonderfully light and swift, and far less trouble to
send along than any other I had seen. There are no better
shipwrights than the Norsemen, and we Saxons have forgotten the
craft.
The terrible numbness passed off as I worked, but now the wind grew
cold, and the clouds were working up from the southwest quickly,
with wind overhead that was not felt here yet.
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