xv RIVERSIDE LETTERS 117 



as might get injured upon chairs and tables ; 

 the next day I could not get to my studio at 

 all without wading knee-deep, as the boat 

 could not enter the narrow passage that led 

 to the door. The flood here reached its 

 extreme height on Thursday the i5th at 

 10.30 p.m., at which hour it distinctly ceased 

 to rise. No perceptible fall took place, how- 

 ever, until Saturday the i7th. 



A flood is not a noisy and terrific demon- 

 stration of the forces of nature, like a thunder- 

 storm or a hurricane, but it has an appalling- 

 character of its own, in the quiet, stealthy, 

 irresistible way with which the waters rise. 



I could not help wondering of how much 

 use were now the new ugly iron flood-gates 

 that have taken the place of the picturesque 

 wooden weirs ; and of what had happened to 

 the new sewage works at the various riparian 

 towns ; ours were flooded, the man holes burst 

 open, and the sewage escaped into the river 

 as of yore ; at Maidenhead, I believe, the 

 whole sewage outlet was entirely submerged. 



