We are now crossing a number of rivers that empty into the inlet to the Toram River. Some of these are small enough to wade across, and some are wide and deep enough they have a permanent ferry to carry people and horses across the river. It’s slow going at times, and will take us several days until we’re through this area.
Niahla’Sen saw fish swimming in the river while we were crossing it today, and asked how often I mention spoonfish in my journal. I can’t give a good count since I’ve already sent parts of my journal back to Atalan, but I know it’s quite a bit. She suggested I mention more of the other fish that live in the rivers and lakes we pass. When I mention spoonfish all the time, it makes it seem like they’re the only fish that lives in the waters around here. I’m not sure why she bothered talking about this with me, but it might be since she read my earlier writings while at one of the Perduva islands. I wrote about all kinds of fish prior to then since fishing was almost all I had to do on the ship. I guess she’s just trying to make conversation during dull times when we’re not going very far.
It’s snake for dinner tonight, although we could have rabbits if they were in better condition. It’s almost sad that Krista’Mil isn’t here. We always expected her to eat a snake, and now that it’s us instead, she would be very amused. It’s actually a rather large snake, probably as long as two men lying down. Pelmarco spotted it while we were searching for a good campsite in this marshy region. The large reptile attempted to escape, but was rather sluggish after apparently consuming the inhabitants of a large rabbit den. It was easy to walk up to the snake and lop off its head. Gutting the snake wasn’t much harder than cleaning a fish: slice it open, remove the entrails, and carve off filets. Niahla’Sen found the rabbits in the stomach. Without so much as a moment’s consideration, Pelmarco decided the bedraggled meat lumps were nothing more than fish food, and had Niahla’Sen toss them into a nearby stream. I think Niahla’Sen kept small pieces of the entrails for her own unknown purposes, but most of it went to the fish. The snake filets we cooked, however, were extremely delicious, and a welcome change from our usual meals of venison.