164 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



any unexpected moment if lie is going to deal with 

 these people. At one callage they all agi-eed that a 

 neighboring stream, which we could not avoid cross- 

 ing, had become so swollen by the heavy rains, that 

 it was absolutely impassable ; but I simply ordered 

 them to quietly follow me, and where I could not 

 lead the way they might turn back. However, when 

 we came to its banks, we found before us a deep, 

 foaming torrent, far more uninviting and dangerous 

 than I had anticipated, yet by following up its course 

 for half a mile, I came to a place where I made my 

 way to the opposite bank ; but here I found myself 

 hemmed in by a precipitous cliff, and there could 

 be nothing done except to beat an inglorious retreat. 

 The natives meantime had been trying the stream 

 farther down, and had found a ford where the strong 

 cuiTcnt was only waist-deep, and here we safely 

 gained the opposite bank. After this came another 

 stream even more difficult to cross, and after that, 

 still a third. Each time I almost exj)ected that the 

 coolies, who were carrying over my shells, would be 

 swept away, but they were all so lightly clad that 

 they succeeded in maintaining theii' footing, even 

 where the current was perfectly boiling. The streams 

 are changed into rapid torrents in a few hours 

 in these islands, where the water seems to come 

 down from the sky in broad sheets whenever it rains. 

 There are few bridges, and the difficulty of crossing 

 the small rivers is one of the chief obstacles in 

 travelling here during the rainy season. However, 

 as a compensation, there is no sultry, scorching sun. 

 Near the beaches where the streams flow out to the 



