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into the water, grabbed hold of it, and tossed it up onto the sand. It was enormous, glinting golden in the sun.

'Nice going, Yossi,' Karl crowed, and slapped me on the back.

Karl took good care of us as usual. He wanted us to enjoy our dinner and made a cucumber salad with garlic and lemon. He had collected the fat from the fish and melted it in the pan to fry slices of plantain.

Dinner was served. We all held our bowls in our laps and busied ourselves eating. The fish was delicious, white, tender, and boneless. Marcus sat on a log at a distance from the rest of us. He looked depressed. I went over and sat next to him.

'I'm sorry I acted like a baby,' he said, 'but I've never caught a fish before, and I wanted to land it myself. I know it was stupid of me. I apologise.'

'Forget it, Marcus,' I replied. 'I owe you an apology, too. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I wasn't just trying to show off. It's just that I knew we needed the food. I mean, all of us would rather eat fish than monkey.'

'You're right, Yossi. I'm glad that we can talk. I don't know what to do. Kevin is so hostile to me.'

'He's just in a rotten mood because we aren't going to be going on down the river. It's hard for him to accept the fact that we're giving up and going back.'

'To tell you the truth,' Marcus said, 'I would just as soon go on, too, even if it is dangerous.'