FLOODS 191 



into the river, but happily it held well. The whole of 

 the jungle on our side of the river was under water and 

 all sorts of creatures sought the shelter of our houses, 

 which occupied the highest position. When even these 

 were flooded, armies of ants and beetles and other insects 

 climbed up our beds and other furniture to escape from 

 drowning, moths washed out of their resting places 

 fluttered aimlessly about, and a family of rats, which 

 inhabited my hut, ran about squeaking in terror. 



Beyond the loss of our canoes, some of which were 

 afterwards recovered, no great damage was done, and 

 the flood fell almost as quickly as it had risen. Soon 

 after daybreak the ground, on which the village had 

 been, began to appear above the falling water, and it 

 was seen that not one stick of the huts was standing. 

 But the natives were anxious to get out of their canoes, 

 and by mid-day half the huts in the village were re-built 

 with the fragments that they had crammed into the 

 canoes or had put up into the trees. During the next 

 two or three days they brought back quantities of hous- 

 ing materials, which had been carried for miles down 

 the river, and very soon the village resumed its normal 

 appearance. 



On two subsequent occasions in the following month 

 the village was completely swept away by floods, and it 

 was a matter of surprise to us that they did not adopt 

 the custom of their neighbours the Tapiro pygmies and 

 build their houses on piles. The third great flood swept 

 away the sandbank on which the village stood, and they 

 were accordingly compelled to build their houses on the 

 top of a high bank further down the river. Such a place 



