144 THE ISTHMUS OF TANA MA. 



on this exceedingly tortuous stream. The building 

 erected for the officers of the Company, is on a level 

 plat of ground, elevated about thirty feet from the 

 low water-mark of the river, and looks directly down 

 upon it from a neat veranda. 



Near by, a deep rivine comes in, down which, dur- 

 ing the rainy season, a mountain torrent rushes with 

 great velocity. Many a time have I followed the 

 almost dry bed of this rivulet far back into the 

 mountains, the steep sides of which it would be al- 

 most impossible to climb, and afterwards, perhaps 

 the next day, a stream, ten or twelve feet deep, 

 would rush furiously down, gathering flood-wood 

 from the fallen trees of the last dry season, building 

 up obstructions, and then break away, undermining 

 huge trees, and bearing them, root and branch, into 

 the river below. At one time, after about three 

 hour's hard rain, my attention was attracted by a 

 sound as of a water-fall, and on looking out, I found 

 this stream so swollen, and pouring down -with such 

 impetuosity, that its current extended directly across 

 the Chagres, a distance of at least one hundred 

 yards, and washed to a considerable extent into 

 the opposite bank, notwithstanding the bed of the 

 ravine was nearly level, for thirty or forty rods back 

 towards the mountains. When the stream subsided, 

 it was found that large trees which had fallen across, 

 from bank to bank, had been sw T ept away, although 

 they were elevated ten feet from the usual water level. 

 I am particular in relating this, as these torrents pre- 

 sent a serious obstacle to contend with, in the prose- 



