Hostile Forces 



bodyguard for the dangerous bit of road. Ever expecting 

 an attack, I was encamped with only a few people. And 

 in this position I had the experience of seeing the 

 camp flooded in the space of a few minutes, and losing 

 the calves that had been brought with my cows, besides 

 a large number of other things, in the inundation. My 

 half-benumbed servants sought refuge in the camp so far 



THE CENTRE OF THIS BRIDGE WAS WITHDRAWN AT NIGHT SO AS TO 

 KEEP MEN AND BEASTS FROM CROSSING OVER TO THE ISLAND 



as they could ; but that night laid the foundation of many 

 illnesses, which soon claimed their victims. In a trice 

 my tent was torn down, I myself buried under the wet 

 canvas, and all the zoological objects I had brought with 

 me were either carried away or completely ruined. The 

 violence of the electric manifestations was beyond descrip- 

 tion : flash upon flash, and fearful peals of thunder 

 alternated with terrible rapidity. 



671 



