496 



on the beach, that, in going as near the wind as 

 possible, he should reach at one single tack the 

 middle of the river. At the very moment when 

 he was boasting of his dexterity, and the bold- 

 ness of his manoeuvre, the force of the wind upon 

 the sail became so great, that we were on the 

 point of going down. Our side of the boat was 

 under water, which entered with such violence, 

 that it was up to our knees. It passed over a 

 little table, at which I was writing in the after 

 part of the boat. I had some difficulty to save 

 my journal, and in an instant we saw our books, 

 papers, and dried plants, all swimming. Mr. 

 Bonpland was lying asleep in the middle of the 

 canoe. Awakened by the entrance of the water, 

 and the cries of the Indians, he judged of our 

 situation with that coolness, which he always 

 displayed in the most difficult circumstances. 

 The lee side righting itself from time to time 

 during the squall, he did not consider the boat 

 as lost. He thought, that, were we even forced 

 to abandon it, we should save ourselves by swim- 

 ming, since there was no crocodile in sight. 

 Amid this uncertainty, we saw the cordage of 

 the sail suddenly give way. The same gust of 

 wind, that had thrown us on our beam, served 

 also to right us. We instantly laboured to bale 

 the boat with calebashes ; the sail was set afresh ; 

 and in less than half an hour we were again in 

 a state to proceed. The wind had abated a 



