Though more powerful and better equipped for fighting than
the apes, the lioness had no desire to meet these enraged
adults, and with a snarl of hatred she sprang quickly
into the brush and disappeared.
Tarzan now swam to shore and clambered quickly upon
dry land. The feeling of freshness and exhilaration which the
cool waters had imparted to him, filled his little being with
grateful surprise, and ever after he lost no opportunity to
take a daily plunge in lake or stream or ocean when it was
possible to do so.
For a long time Kala could not accustom herself to the
sight; for though her people could swim when forced to it,
they did not like to enter water, and never did so voluntarily.
The adventure with the lioness gave Tarzan food for
pleasurable memories, for it was such affairs which broke
the monotony of his daily life--otherwise but a dull round of
searching for food, eating, and sleeping.
The tribe to which he belonged roamed a tract extending,
roughly, twenty-five miles along the seacoast and some fifty
miles inland. This they traversed almost continually,
occasionally remaining for months in one locality; but as they
moved through the trees with great speed they often covered
the territory in a very few days.
Much depended upon food supply, climatic conditions, and
the prevalence of animals of the more dangerous species;
though Kerchak often led them on long marches for no other
reason than that he had tired of remaining in the same place.
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