SYKIAX SLOUGHS AND STORMS 7 



the town ; about 9 p.m. tlie wind rose ; an liour later it 

 was blowing a gale, and the ropes began to part ; however, 

 by doubling our fastenings, and by dint of constant sallies, 

 we kept a shelter over our heads all night. At 5 a.m. 

 the outside roof of the tent was in rags, the wooden sup- 

 ports of the sides mostly broken, and the wind generally 

 master of the situation. I was too sleepy to stir out of 

 bed, and lay in momentary expectation that we should 

 be caught up and carried away in a whirlwind. My 

 friends, however, did not wish to try this new sensation, 

 so we roused ourselves to action, and with much difficulty 

 succeeded in lowering and fastening up the canvas ; then 

 we took refuge, with the horses, in a ruinous cellar. 



Next morning, just outside Acre, the passage of a river, 

 which entered the sea by two mouths, rendered necessary a 

 double loading and unloading of the baggage. We crossed 

 in boats, but our animals had to swim. I shall not easily 

 forget the transit of the three donkeys. They were driven 

 into the stream as far as whips would reach them, but 

 just within their depth, and beyond the reach of their 

 persecutors' weapons, the trio unanimously halted. Never 

 was the vis inertioe more strikingly exemplified. In vain 

 their masters hurled on the patient beasts every form 

 of Christian and Moslem imprecation. The donkeys ' were 

 not a penny the worse' ; they felt they had the best of 

 the situation, and exhibited a stolid contempt for all the 

 uproar of which they were the cause. At last one of 

 the muleteers stripped, and, entering the water, launched 

 the obstinate little brutes, one by one, by main force. 

 Once committed to the deep, they swam bravely, and 

 emerged on the farther bank dripping and shaking their 

 long ears as if, after all, they were the heroes of the day. 

 All hour's scamper over the sandy beach brought us to 

 the mouth of 'that ancient river, the river Kishon.' It 



