180 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. vm. 



for one man to strike up a song, improvising his subject 

 as he sings, and then all the crew laughingly join in the 

 chorus. They keep time to the music in paddling ; and 

 I always encouraged my boatmen to sing, as it relieves 

 the monotony of the bump, bump of the paddles against 

 the side of the vessel, which becomes very tedious after 

 the first hour or two. One always has to be prepared 

 for squalls when on the sea. Thej' are especially common 

 at night, after veiy hot days. You see a black cloud 

 lowering on the horizon. Then a cool breeze fans your 

 cheek. You at once strike all sail. The breeze gets 

 stronger and stronger, until you find yourself rocking 

 about on a rough "choppy" sea, amid a hurricane of 

 wind and rain. 



Thunder and lightning are especially common during 

 the wet monsoon. The mountains behind " Thunder 

 and Lightning Bay," to the north of the capital, are 

 often perfectly illuminated by lightning flashes ; and at 

 times the thunder is deafening to hear. As to the 

 lightning latent flashes of electricity are visible most 

 nights throughout the year ; and it is not uncommon 

 to see a continuous play of lightning on the horizon, 

 especially after very sultry days. At times the sea is so 

 highly phosphorescent, that the boat leaves a wake of 

 bright light in the water, and the paddles look as though 

 moving through a caldron of molten silver. This 

 phenomenon is most commonly observable after calm 

 sultry weather. 



The sudden manner in which the rivers rise after 

 heavy rain is wonderful ; and the flat forests beside or 

 near the rivers often become flooded. You may go to 

 bed at night, and awake to find the native house in which 

 you slept surrounded by acres of water a yard deej) in 

 the morning. This is especially true of flat tracts, 



