There, luke stayed the night with the whiphids in a huge shelter made from the rib cage of a motmot, covered over with hides to keep out the wind. Battersley had a reputation of being tough, but he knew his stuff. It was a great day and a great hour, whatever may come.

And yet, until yesterday, more than a thousand people lived here, crammed into ramshackle dwellings which covered these lowlands as far as the high-tide line of the sea- even yesterday, children played along the beach you can see hera.