A FLOOD AND ITS EFFECTS. 105 



is when in combination, when vast rivers are 

 booming on in their united force, that they are 

 seen in all their magnificence. The waters, hav- 

 ing reached the upper part of the banks, then 

 rush forth, overspreading the whole of the ad- 

 jacent swamps, till all appears one vast ocean, 

 above which a few tall forest trees show their 

 tops, all else submerged beneath the waste, till 

 at length undermined, they are seen to give way 

 and disappear; while stupendous eddies engulph 

 whole tracts of the land. Foaming, seething, 

 and boiling, the torrent rushes, one huge and 

 overpowering mass, fraught with terror and de- 

 struction, impetuously and irresistibly on, swal- 

 lowing for ever the horses, bears and deer, which 

 attempt to cross its relentless surface. Eagles 

 and vultures, the grim attendants of mortality 

 alone are seen, unmindful of the flood, and in- 

 tent upon their prey. 



Meanwhile, the inhabitants, terror-stricken at 

 the sudden inundation, their ingenuity quickened 

 by the terrible doom it threatens, exert their ut- 

 most to escape the horrors of the raging element. 

 The Indian hastens to the hills of the interior. 

 Dwellers on the banks of the river may be seen 

 removing themselves and their possessions on 

 rafts, which they fasten with ropes or grape 

 vines to the larger trees, hurrying to unknown 

 homes, while witnessing the melancholy sight of 



