The passage from "by the waters of babylon.”

when i was very near, my raft struck and turned over. i can swim in our lakes—i swam to the shore. there was a great spike of rusted metal sticking out into the river—i hauled myself up upon it and sat there, panting. i had saved my bow and two arrows and the knife i found in the dead place but that was all. my raft went whirling downstream toward the bitter water. i looked after it, and thought if it had trod me under, at least i would be safely dead. nevertheless, when i had dried my bowstring and re-strung it, i walked forward to the place of the gods.

what kind of atmosphere is created by the author's word choice in this excerpt?

a welcoming atmosphere
a horrific atmosphere
a religious atmosphere
a threatening atmosphere