Dane had not eaten or drunk anything for two days and he felt weak.

 Once again, he thought of his friends, Mat and Harry. Perhaps they were still looking for him.

      Were they safe?

The three of them had come to the jungle for a hunting trip but had become separated while running from a wild elephant.

Dane had lost his equipment and food supply, but he knew that he should not give up. He prayed for strength to find a way out of the thick tropical jungle.

Dane was completely lost and was going round in circles. Wherever he went he was plagued by mosquitos and other insects.

As if that was not enough, the leeches were draining his blood little by little. He was too scared to eat leaves or berries for fear of upsetting his stomach.

Then, to keep off the biting insects, he rolled himself in the mud. He decided to stay near the watering hole to wait for a search party.