The waves had receded, leaving bits of dark "debris" upon the ground.
Some in the regiment began to whoop frenziedly.

Many were silent.
Apparently they were trying to contemplate themselves.
After the fever had left his veins, the youth thought that at last he was going to suffocate.

He became aware of the foul atmosphere in which he had been struggling.

He was grimy and dripping like a laborer in a foundry.

He grasped his canteen and took a long swallow of the warmed water.
A sentence with variations went up and down the line.