PERILS OF PIONEERING. 159 



clinging to this oak, singing all the hymns and songs 

 we could remember to prevent us from falling asleep 

 and dropping into the surging flood beneath us. 



During the night several thunderstorms passed over 

 us, with drenching rain, but, strange to say, neither 

 flood nor lightning flash caused us fear, and in early 

 dawn we held a council as to what was to be done. I 

 offered my wife an alternative, of being again strapped 

 behind me while we swam for the shore, or being left 

 on the tree while I swam ashore to get help to rescue 

 her. Extreme danger lay in either plan. I might be 

 lost, and never return with help, in which case my 

 wife must remain on the tree to starve, or become 

 exhausted and drop into the roaring torrent below us ; 

 while, if we tried to swim together, it was very doubt- 

 ful if my strength was equal to the task, as after 

 starving and exposure, I felt in a very weak state. I 

 was so cold that my teeth chattered as I talked, but 

 one or the other plan must be faced, there was no 

 escape from that. 



My wife elected to be strapped to her liege lord, 

 and, seeing that this was in our honeymoon, it was 

 most befitting, if we had so soon to die, that we should 

 be tied together in the last struggle. But it pleased a 

 kind Providence to order differently. The strap was 

 adjusted, and the moment for the final plunge arrived, 



