18 Down the Chocolate River
‘Off we go!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘Hurry up, everybody! Follow me to the next room! And
please don’t worry about Augustus Gloop. He’s bound to come out in the wash. They
always do. We shall have to make the next part of the journey by boat! Here she comes!
Look!’
A steamy mist was rising up now from the great warm chocolate river, and out of the
mist there appeared suddenly a most fantastic pink boat. It was a large open row boat
with a tall front and a tall back (like a Viking boat of old), and it was of such a shining
sparkling glistening¹ pink colour that the whole thing looked as though it were made of
bright, pink glass. There were many oars² on either side of it, and as the boat came
closer, the watchers on the riverbank could see that the oars were being pulled by
masses of Oompa-Loompas – at least ten of them to each oar³.
‘This is my private yacht!’ cried Mr Wonka, beaming with pleasure. ‘I made her by
hollowing out an enormous boiled sweet! Isn’t she beautiful! See how she comes cutting
through the river!’
The gleaming pink boiled-sweet boat glided⁴ up to the riverbank. One hundred Oompa-
Loompas rested on their oars and stared up at the visitors. Then suddenly, for some
reason best known to themselves, they all burst into shrieks⁵ of laughter.
‘What’s so funny?’ asked Violet Beauregarde.
‘Oh, don’t worry about them!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘They’re always laughing! They think
everything’s a colossal⁶ joke! Jump into the boat, all of you! Come on! Hurry up!’
As soon as everyone was safely in, the Oompa-Loompas pushed the boat away from
the bank and began to row swiftly downriver.
‘Hey, there! Mike Teavee!’ shouted Mr Wonka. ‘Please do not lick the boat with your
tongue! It’ll only make it sticky!’
‘Daddy,’ said Veruca Salt, ‘I want a boat like this! I want you to buy me a big pink

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