110214    After three minutes and fifty seconds he re-emerged, clawing at the slippery rocks.

110215    “Come on, hurry up,” the captain shouted, but then he began to look more carefully and soon he himself was jumping and clambering over the rocks to the Sinhalese; no-one would have thought that a body like that could jump so nimbly.

110216    At the last moment he caught hold of the Sinhalese hand and pulled him breathless from the water.

110217    Then he lay him on the rock and wiped the sweat off his brow.

110218    The Sinhalese lay without moving; his shin had been scraped and the bone underneath was exposed, clearly he had injured it on some rock, but he was otherwise unhurt.

110219    The captain raised the man’s eyelid; all he could see was the white.

110220    There was no sign of any oysters or the knife.

110221    Just then, the boat and its crew came in close to shore.

110222    “Captain,” Jensen the Swede called, “there are sharks around here.

110223    Are you going to search for oysters any longer?”

110224    “No,” said the captain.

110225    “Come in here and pick up these two.”

110226    On the way back to the ship Jensen drew the captains attention to something; “Look how it suddenly becomes shallow just here.

110227    It goes on just like this as far as the shore.”

110228    And he demonstrated his point by pushing his oar down into the water.