3o8 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
guianensis, and suspended in mid-air, whilst the raft 
passed from under him. 
Our deck now presented a lamentable sight, but 
we had little time for ascertaining the amount of 
damage, as at every turn a similar peril awaited us. 
We, in fact, twice again ran into the bush, not 
quite so violently as before, but each time adding 
to the damage already sustained. We had calcu- 
lated on reaching Caracol that day, and might 
still have done so before nightfall, but that there 
were some bad turns ahead, which, as the men 
were already much fatigued, we could not expect to 
pass without very great risk ; so at 4|- p.m. we 
brought to, with some difficulty, at a place where 
the bank was free from trees, and made fast for the 
night. We then set to work to clear away the 
wreck of sticks and leaves which strewed the raft, 
and to repair the roof, which was completed by 
moonlight. The cases had received only a few 
slight cracks, and had none of them turned over, 
but the leaves of the precious plants were sorely 
maltreated. . . . As far as Caracol the river con- 
tinued narrow and winding, and at various points 
we barely cleared the bushes, but nothing more 
serious happened to us than the loss of a few loose 
cloths, which were hooked up by a pendulous mass 
of the Uncaria. From Caracol downwards the 
river grew wider, and the banks were less over- 
hung with wood, so that we went on with more 
security. . . . Soon after nightfall we had got as far 
as to where the influence of the tide was still felt, 
and as it was ebbing we profited by it to hold on our 
way until 2 o'clock of the following morning, when 
the flood-tide obliged us to lay by. Thenceforward 
