JULY. ESCAPE OF A SHEPHERD. 263 



was caught in one of them, and although she man- 

 aged to get upon a high bank, the flood soon 

 reached her, and she was kept a prisoner, stand- 

 ing in the water, which at one time reached to her 

 middle, till the fishermen heard her cries, and suc- 

 ceeded in rescuing her. Had we been in many 

 spots where we fished almost every day nothing 

 could have saved our lives. 



A singular instance of preservation from a simi- 

 lar danger happened during this same flood, but on 

 a different river. On perceiving that the water was 

 rising, a young man hurried across a shallow part 

 to an island, on which were a few sheep grazing, 

 intending to recross with them to the mainland 

 before the flood had attained any serious height. 

 He was, however, out in his reckoning ; for he had 

 scarcely set foot on the island when the river 

 became so swollen that it was quite impossible for 

 him to return. The flood soon covered the island, 

 and the man had great difficulty to keep his footing, 

 being up to his waist in water. To add to his 

 danger, great pieces of timber and floating trees 

 came sweeping past, any one of which, had it struck 

 him, would have at once dashed him off the island. 

 Several people who were on the shore, although so 

 near, could do nothing to assist him. Presently 

 the flood brought down, right upon the island, a 



