3 o8 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 



gttianensis, and suspended in mid-air, whilst the raft 

 passed from under him. 



Our deck now presented a lamentable sight, but 

 we had little time for ascertaining the amount of 

 damage, as at every turn a similar peril awaited us. 

 We, in fact, twice again ran into the bush, not 

 quite so violently as before, but each time adding 

 to the damage already sustained. We had calcu- 

 lated on reaching Caracol that day, and might 

 still have done so before nightfall, but that there 

 were some bad turns ahead, which, as the men 

 were already much fatigued, we could not expect to 

 pass without very great risk; so at 4^ P.M. we 

 brought to, with some difficulty, at a place where 

 the bank was free from trees, and made fast for the 

 night. We then set to work to clear away the 

 wreck of sticks and leaves which strewed the raft, 

 and to repair the roof, which was completed by 

 moonlight. The cases had received only a few 

 slight cracks, and had none of them turned over, 

 but the leaves of the precious plants were sorely 

 maltreated. ... As far as Caracol the river con- 

 tinued narrow and winding, and at various points 

 we barely cleared the bushes, but nothing more 

 serious happened to us than the loss of a few loose 

 cloths, which were hooked up by a pendulous mass 

 of the Uncaria. From Caracol downwards the 

 river grew wider, and the banks were less over- 

 hung with wood, so that we went on with more 

 security. . . . Soon after nightfall we had got as far 

 as to where the influence of the tide was still felt, 

 and as it was ebbing we profited by it to hold on our 

 way until 2 o'clock of the following morning, when 

 the flood-tide obliged us to lay by. Thenceforward 



