242 TRAVELS IN 
fary to fix upon one that was In all refpedls 
favourable to our projedl ; and after proceed- 
ing to a confiderable diftance up the river, we 
at length fucceeded. The difficulty that had 
attended this refearch had been accompanied 
with no little' murmuring 5 meanwhile to this 
very clrcumftance^ in the end, were we in- 
debted for our lives. 
Our firft operation was to launch the tree, 
and to fix to one end of it two firings of 
leather, to enable the fwimmers to drag it after 
them. We then rolled up in a bundle their 
krofl^es and my tent, which we faftened to the 
middle of the float, tying firmly at the fame 
time to this bundle the two leathern vefl^els of 
oil, one on each fide. Thefe veffels 1 thought 
would not only ferve to diminifh the weight 
of the machine, but alfo prevent it from over- 
fetting and plunging me into the water. 
It remained to find a method of tranfportlng 
our powder-flafks and artillery, and particularly 
of preferving them dry. This care I took upon 
myfelf. It would be poffible, I imagined, to 
hold my fufees refting on my flioulders ; and 
as to the powder-flafks, I fufpended them from 
my neck, with my watch. The preparations 
being 
