SECURING THE CAMP 189 



the dumping ground of camp-refuse, to clear away the 

 rank vegetation that grew on the bank down to the 

 water's edge, and this was the beginning of what almost 

 ended in our dow^ifall. After the tangle of creepers had 

 been removed, the first rains began to wash the bank 

 away, and when the river rose three or four feet, as it 

 speedily did after a few hours' downpour, it undermined 

 the lower part of the bank and large landslips took place 

 from above. 



In the course of a few weeks several yards of land 

 disappeared, and the safety of our houses, which had 

 come to be almost overhanging the river, was seriously 

 imperilled. To save them we erected a strong pahsade 

 of long poles thrust deeply into the bottom of the bank 

 and secured them by rattan ropes, which passed through 

 our house and were attached to posts at the back. The 

 interval between the pahsade and the bank was 

 laboriously filled up with shingle from the river bed, and 

 this provided a never-ending occupation, because the 

 stones were always trickling through the palisade and 

 required to be renewed. The natives were of great 

 assistance to us in this work, and on one occasion — it was 

 the only time that we ever persuaded them to come into 

 our camp, although we lived within a few yards of their 

 village— the women and children came and helped in the 

 work and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 



It was well that we took these precautions, for as the 

 weather grew steadily wetter and wetter (though that 

 seemed hardly possible) through July and August, so the 

 river rose higher and higher and each succeeding flood 

 w^as greater than the last. The night of the iS-igth of 



