^0 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



accompanied by fever and headache, rendered sleep im- 

 possible. 



Maij 22. — When day broke I noted that the river had 

 risen slightly during the night and appeared to be still 

 rising. I had fixed upon a rock in the pool for my obser- 

 vations, and I could always tell whether the water was 

 rising or falling. As the men did not appear to have 

 noticed the change I did not enlighten them, and they 

 started up the hill in a more cheerful spirit than they 

 had shown for weeks. I fainted twice this morning. On 

 both occasions Jacobson brought me round by pouring 

 alcohol, a bottle of which had been left at the rancho, 

 down my throat. At about noon, when we were beginning 

 to despair of getting away, we were gladdened by the 

 shouts of the men, who had got the dug-out to the brow 

 of the steep declivity at the back of our camp. An hour 

 afterwards we had the satisfaction of seeing the boat 

 moored alongside of the sand at the edge of the pool. The 

 men loaded her hastily with the few miserable things we 

 still possessed, and we pushed off into the stream. The 

 passage of the whirlpool was not without danger. Twice 

 we shipped water and nearly got swamped, but when at 

 last we issued from the whirling waters we knew that we 

 were saved, and with joy in our hearts we allowed the 

 boat to drift with the current until nightfall, the men 

 being too spent to paddle. On the way the men had cut 

 down some palm-trees growing at the water's edge, and 

 had removed the tender shoots from the crown. These we 

 ate when we stopped for the night on a rocky island in 

 the middle of the stream. 



May 23. — Started early in a heavy shower of rain, 

 feeling terribly weak, cold, and miserable. The men 

 recalled the pleasant times we had had on the up journey, 



