A village which is a hummock in a dry sandiness can so easily become an island infested with crocodiles as the plain floods again, and as the water rises further, sodden remains of huts half swept away .. the tops of a few mango trees.

Their cattle and their canoes, hollowed from a single log, are their main means of livelihood and transport. The wheel, a recent invader from the outside world, struggles in the soft dry sand and is even less able under a few feet of water. The resilience and imperturbability of the people enable them to survive in a land which although beautiful ... is wild and hard .. .