Tillman tried to help him into the canoe, but it tipped too far, Tillman lost his balance so ended up in the water as well. Nat’aaggi just managed to keep it from capsizing entirely. I swam for the other side so that I could steady it when they tried to climb in.
Tillman held to the canoe, used his shoulder to boost Pruitt aboard. Before he could save himself, Tillman was abruptly pulled down. The creature had hold of him. From my position, I could do nothing except shout an order for Pruitt to shoot.
Pruitt stood with the rifle, took aim. The canoe teetered beneath him. He hesitated. I think he feared shooting Tillman, who was now fiercely engaged with the creature. Nat’aaggi continued to beat down into the water with her paddle. Pruitt finally shot, aiming for the tail-end of the creature, well away from Tillman. It was enough to at least startle if not wound it.
Tillman climbed aboard as I counterweighted the canoe. It occurred to me then that it would never hold all of us. Already it was sunk to within inches of being swamped. I ordered them to head into shore.
Tillman reached down to offer me a hand out of the lake.
?—?You could hold to the stern while we paddle, Tillman offered.
They could make no headway with the added drag. Again I ordered them to paddle on.
I swam after them with all the strength I could muster, but by now I was worn out from the struggle & cold. I made little progress. As I thrashed in the water, I again felt the thing pass near me. It was most unnerving. Its bulk & power moved through the water so that I could feel its current beneath me before my feet struck its back.
It would have had me, I am certain, if it weren’t for the Indians. I was half frozen & fading. When I saw their canoes approach, I gave one last effort to swim towards them.
I cannot describe the relief of being pulled from that lake. Two Indians helped me aboard their vessel, as those in the other canoe were at the ready with bows & arrows. I was weak & my body felt impossibly heavy, so I lay on the bottom of the boat. In the short time it took to reach shore, I commenced to shivering & teeth-chattering with such violence that my muscles ached. It would be some time before I fully regained my warmth.
The Indians were able to retrieve our water-filled canoe, tow it back to shore. Remarkably our packs were still strapped inside, though one rifle was lost.
As we were helped ashore, it became clear that Tillman had no sense of his injury, only wanted to boast of fighting the creature. —?I got in quite a few good clobbers, he said, demonstrating with his fists. Then he began to laugh. —?Guess I can swim after all, if I’m riding a 50-foot water snake.
Pruitt insisted that the creature was neither a snake nor anywhere near 50 feet. The two began to argue. Tillman quieted, however, when I drew his attention to his leg where the cloth of his pants had been torn away. He said he was surprised to know he had even been bitten, then he looked down.
?—?Good God! he said in a weak voice, so that I expected him to faint.
His wounds were clean & cool due to the lake water. Unlike most injuries I have encountered in the field, there was of course no ball or shrapnel to concern us. All that said, it is not pleasant to behold. In their arrangement the wounds reveal the size & shape of the creature’s jaws. Punctures to the skin of his upper thigh, as well as that of his lower leg beneath the knee, show the jaw to be nearly three feet wide. The teeth seem to have been comparatively small, concentrated at the back of the jaw, & notably sharp.
Most of the puncture wounds are neat. However, several gashes did require suturing.
When Pruitt brought out needles & silk thread, Tillman protested.
?—?Not without a drop of whiskey, he said.
I pointed out that there were no such spirits for 500 miles in any direction.
While Nat’aaggi held his head in her lap, Pruitt & I set to work. I credit Tillman?—?while he did shout & curse, he also managed to keep still enough. We went as quickly as we could. I am grateful, too, for Pruitt’s skills as impromptu field surgeon.
Nat’aaggi tends to Tillman. She sits by his side tonight in one of the huts, offering him drinks of water.
June 17
My diaries & Sophie’s letter are nearly dry. I have laid them along the ground in the afternoon sun, keeping them in place with small rocks. It is fortunate that I keep them wrapped in squares of oilcloth within my jacket. They are damp in places, but all considering, they are in decent shape & I am much relieved.
A medicine man visited Tillman this afternoon. His ceremony was long & bizarre. For an hour or more, he remained concealed beneath a skin blanket inside our hut. He eventually began to writhe, dance, sing, all the while still hidden. After some time, he had worked himself into such a state of excitement that the skin blanket fell from him, his face dripped with sweat, his voice was gravelly. He next placed the blanket over Tillman’s injured leg, spoke incantations, then seem to catch some unseen entity, which he wrestled with on the ground for some time before dragging it out of the hut.
If it were me, I would not hold to such nonsense. Tillman, however, says it can do no harm.