i68 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
the banks ; the day was stormy, but the second 
night it did not rain, and he saw with joy on the 
morning of the third day that the water had de- 
creased. He made then no delay in having the 
four bridges thrown across, and took care to make 
them very solid, lashed together so as to make one 
single continuous bridge, hoping to find it there on 
his return. But although he remained only three 
nights on the other side of the Topo, on returning 
to the banks on the fourth day, towards sunset, the 
bridge was there no longer, having been carried 
away the previous night by terrible storms which 
had lasted for twelve hours, inundating the tra- 
vellers' rancho and putting out their fire, so that 
at daybreak they found themselves soaked with 
wet, sitting upon their baggage, and with their 
feet in water. Fortunately, during the day, the 
Topo had sufficiently abated for them to discover 
the tops of the rocks ; so the bamboos were felled 
and arranged upon the rocks, and they were able 
to cross in the last rays of twilight. He learnt 
when too late that it was only during the months 
of December, January, and February that one 
might hope to find the rivers of the forest of 
Canelos low enough to be crossed easily and with- 
out danger. But he was content to have been able 
to devote an entire day to Mount Abitagua, besides 
collecting interesting plants all along the road ; and 
he returned to Bafios, having enriched his collec- 
tion with a considerable number of very beautiful 
specimens. 
[Returning to the Journal, the following short 
note on the few plants observed during his journey 
may appropriately be given here : — ] 
