A f R r C A. 241 
they be ingenious in refources of which none 
of them had any need ? And by what ftrange 
accident did it happen, that there flood upon 
this fhore a native of Surinam, educated at 
Paris, and incapable of fwimming ? The inca- 
pacity was all my own : it was therefore juft 
that I fhould invent the means of relieving it, I 
propofed to launch upon the ftream the trunk 
of a tree, upon which I fhould feat myfelf 
aftride ; and my four companions unanimoufly 
exhorted me to have courage, and they would 
anfwer with their lives for my fafe arrival on 
the oppofite fhore. 
Thus animated, I felt no longer the fmallefl 
hefitation : it remained only to find the fpecies 
of float requifite for my purpofe* Of trunks, 
indeed, there was an abundance ; for the in- 
undation, as is fure to be the cafe in thofe 
countries where trees and plants, pafTing 
through the various flages of vegetable life, 
perifh as they fland, and wither on their roots, 
had overturned great numbers, and fcattered 
them along the banks ; but the majority of 
them ftill retained their branches, and of thofe 
without branches, fome were too fhort, fome 
too long, and others too flender. It was neceft 
Vol. I. R fary 
