R. H. SCHOMBURGK. 57 



When the corial hove in sight, the first object that 

 struck his attention was ^Ir. Reiss, standing on 

 one of the thwarts, when prudence would have 

 dictated that he should sit down. From that mo- 

 ment to the catastrophe, not two seconds elapsed. 

 Descending where the fall was more precipitous, the 

 bow of the corial struck the surge, causing a vio- 

 lent shock, which threw Mr. Reiss off his balance ; 

 in falling, he grasped one of the iron staunchions 

 of the awning, the little vessel was upset, and in the 

 next moment her inmates, thirteen in number, strug- 

 gling with the current, and, unable to stem it, were 

 carried with rapidity towards the next cataract. 

 Poor Reiss kept himself above water but a short 

 time, sank, and re-appeared; the current of the 

 next rapid seized him, and it is probable he came 

 in contact with a sunken rock ; he was turned com- 

 pletely round, and lost in the whirlpool at the foot 

 of the rock. After a diligent search of upwards of 

 two hours, his body was found in a direction where 

 it was least expected, and where an under-current 

 must have drifted it. The usual means for restorinor 



o 



suspended animation were resorted to, but in vain ; 

 life was extinct. 



The remains of their poor companion, wrapped in 

 a hammock as a shroud, were deposited in a seques- 

 tered spot, opposite to where he was drowned, — 

 on a rising ground, which the water, even at its 

 highest, does not reach. The burial service was 

 read, and not an eye of those who called themselves 

 Christians was dry; even the Indians, decently 



