336 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



our beds. Every day our residence became more wet 

 and uncomfortable. On Thursday, the thirtieth of May, 

 the storm opened with a whirlwind. At night the crash 

 of falling trees rang through the forest, rain fell in del- 

 uges, the roaring of thunder was terrific, and as we lay 

 looking out, the aspect of the ruined palace, lighted 

 by the glare of lightning such as I never saw in this 

 country, was awfully grand ; in fact, there was too much 

 of the sublime and terrible. The storm threatened the 

 very existence of the building ; and, knowing the totter- 

 ing state of the walls, for some moments we had appre- 

 hensions lest the whole should fall and crush us. In 

 the morning the courtyard and the ground below the 

 palace were flooded, and by this time the whole front 

 was so wet that we were obliged to desert it and move 

 to the other side of the corridor. Even here we were 

 not much better off; but we remained until Mr. Cather- 

 wood had finished his last drawing ; and on Saturday, 

 the first of June, like rats leaving a sinking ship, we 

 broke up and left the ruins. Before leaving, however, 

 I will present a description of the remaining buildings. 



