A SERIOUS MISFORTUNE 251 



and the two sets of double canoes were let down by 

 ropes, one of one couple being swamped, but rescued, 

 and brought safely to shore on each occasion. One of 

 the men was upset while working in the swift water, 

 and his face was cut against the stones. Lyra and 

 Kermit did the actual work with the camaradas. 

 Kermit, dressed practically like the camaradas them- 

 selves, worked in the water, and, as the overhanging 

 branches were thronged with crowds of biting and 

 stinging ants, he was marked and blistered over his 

 whole body. Indeed, we all suffered more or less from 

 these ants ; while the swarms of biting flies grew con- 

 stantly more numerous. The termites ate holes in my 

 helmet, and also in the cover of my cot. Everyone else 

 had a hammock. At this camp we had come down 

 the river about 102 kilometres, according to the 

 surveying records, and in height had descended nearly 

 100 metres, as shown by the aneroid — although the 

 figure in this case is only an approximation, as an 

 aneroid cannot be depended on for absolute accuracy of 

 results. 



Next morning we found that, during the night we 

 had met with a serious misfortune. We had halted at 

 the foot of the rapids. The canoes were moored to 

 trees on the bank, at the tail of the broken water. 

 The two old canoes, although one of them was our 

 biggest cargo-carrier, were water-logged and heavy, and 

 one of them was leaking. In the night the river rose. 

 The leaky canoe, which at best was too low in the 

 water, must have gradually filled from the wash of the 

 waves. It sank, dragging down the other ; they began 

 to roll, bursting their moorings ; and in the morning 

 they had disappeared. A canoe was launched to look 

 for them ; but, rolling over the boulders on the rocky 



