104 DANGEROUS ACCIDENT. 



animals. Scarcely 18 one male found among several hun- 

 dred females. The cause of this disparity cannot be the 

 same as with the crocodiles, which fight in the coupling 

 season. 



Our pilot had anchored at the Playa de huevos, to pur- 

 chase some provisions, our store having began to run short. 

 We found there fresh meat, Angostura rice, and even biscuit 

 made of wheat-flour. Our Indians filled the boat with 

 little live turtles, and eggs dried in the sun, for their own 

 use. Having taken leave of the missionary of Uruana, who 

 had treated us with great kindness, we set sail about four 

 in the afternoon. The wind was fresh, and blew in squalls. 

 Since we had entered the mountainous part of the country, 

 we had discovered that our canoe carried sail very badly ; 

 but the master was desirous of showing the Indians who 

 were assembled on the beach, that, by going close to the 

 wind, he could reach, at one single tack, the middle of the 

 river. At the very moment when he was boasting of hia 

 dexterity, and the boldness of his manoeuvre, the force of 

 the wind upon the sail became so great that we were on 

 the point of going down. One side of the boat was under 

 water, which rushed in with such violence that it was soon 

 up to our knees. It washed over a little table at which I was 

 writing at the stern of the boat. I had some difficulty to 

 save my journal, and in an instant we saw our books, papers, 

 and dried plants, all afloat. M. Bonpland was lying asleep 

 in the middle of the canoe. Awakened by the entrance of 

 the water and the cries of the Indians, he understood the 

 danger of our situation, whilst he maintained that coolness 

 which he always displayed in the most difficult circumstances. 

 The lee-side righting itself from time to time during the 

 squall, he did not consider the boat as lost. He thought 

 that, were we even forced to abandon it, we might save our- 

 selves by swimming, since there was no crocodile in sight. 

 Amidst this uncertainty the cordage of the sail suddenly 

 gave way. The same gust of wind, that had thrown us on 

 our beam, served also to right us. "We laboured to bale the 

 water out of the boat with calabashes, the sail was again set, 

 and in less than half an hour we were in a state to proceed. 

 The wind now abated a little. Squalls alternating with 

 dead calms are common in that part of the Orinoco which 



