262 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XVIII. 



and help from the rope held by those on shore, we 

 were at length landed in a field, not across the real 

 channel of the river, but across the flooded land on 

 the other side of us, where the force of the water was 

 less violent. Although I have been in a good many 

 situations of danger by water, I never felt so helpless 

 as whilst we were dashing about at the mercy of 

 the torrents, over bushes, banks, and stranded trees, 

 had we come in contact with any one of which our 

 small boat must have been upset, and then all 

 chance of escape would have been out of the ques- 

 tion. However, we landed safely, and although we 

 were not above a quarter of a mile from my house, 

 we had to walk round by the chain bridge, a dis- 

 tance of five miles. We got home soon after dark, 

 and before our absence had caused any alarm. 

 With us the rain did not begin till the evening, but 

 we afterwards heard that, further to the west, it 

 had rained in torrents for many hours during the 

 morning, accompanied by a most terrific thunder- 

 storm, and that a great deal of damage had been 

 done by the overflowing of different streams, which 

 had broken up several bridges, and injured a great 

 extent of land. A poor woman who happened to 

 be wading the river a mile above us, at a place 

 where it is divided into several streams, was caught 

 in one of them, and although she iftanaged to get 



