TIGERLAND 



exhausted and almost insensible, but instinctively rather 

 than of my own volition managed to keep myself afloat. 

 However, I soon recovered sufficiently to realize the 

 situation, and found I had come up close to a ferry boat 

 which was crossing at the moment, and the man in charge, 

 having already seen me, brought his boat up quickly and, 

 assisted by some of his passengers, hauled me on board. 



I pointed out my ship, from which I found I had drifted 

 about eight hundred yards, barely a short half mile and yet 

 it had seemed to me a score of miles. Pulling now against 

 the stream, the journey back occupied the best part of two 

 hours. 



At last w r e reached the ship and I have some recollec- 

 tion of being assisted up her side, but from that moment 

 to the day I found myself lying in a hospital on shore, my 

 mind was, as it is up to this day, absolutely blank. 



It appeared that I had lost consciousness immediately 

 after reaching the vessel, and my condition becoming 

 serious was sent off that evening to the hospital, where I 

 had been for the last ten days, suffering from brain fever 

 and more or less delirious all the time. 



However, I was now convalescent, and later in the day 

 had a visit from the Harbour Master who, having heard of 

 my adventure, was anxious to learn the details for, as he 

 remarked, during his thirty years' experience of the 

 Hughli, he had never known of any one falling into it who 

 had lived to tell the tale ! 



I told him exactly what had happened from the moment 

 of falling overboard till I was brought back to the ship 

 for strangely enough up to this time the whole incident 

 was as vivid in my mind as if it had occurred a few minutes 

 before, despite the lapse of time and memory intervening. 



He listened with much interest, and when I had con- 

 cluded, congratulated me warmly on what he considered a 

 miraculous escape, " for," he continued, "it is evident 

 from your description that you were caught in the under- 

 tow, and had you been less used to remaining under water, 

 must inevitably have drowned." 



He then explained to me the nature of this dread demon 

 of the Hughli which, to describe it briefly, apparently 

 consists of a collection of currents running several feet 

 10 



