254 
DANGEROUS POSITION. 
secution. When men had ceased to fight against us, 
nature began. I thought I could hear the fanati- 
cal people of Tintaghoda say one to the other, " Ah ! 
they saved their lives by money, but now God 
comes in to punish and destroy them." Yet whilst 
I stood apart and tortured myself in this wise, our 
people, children of the day, who take no thought 
for the morrow, satisfied that the waves had not 
yet reached them, were full of merriment and 
laughter, and seemed to mock the flood, that still 
rose and rose, bending the largest trees, sweeping 
away the brushwood, and roaring angrily around 
the margin of the islands. Perhaps they knew 
that their lives, at least, were safe ; whilst I re- 
flected that, if even we could swim to shore, leaving 
our property to the wild mercies of the waves, we 
should land in an enemy's country, without the 
means of satisfying the cupidity of the first bandit 
who chose to attack us, and would most probably 
soon be sacrificed. 
I was anxiously watching the progress of the 
inundation when at last it seemed to be checked, 
and no longer to rise. God had not, theUj 
abandoned us, and we were not driven from the 
fire to the waters to perish ! The flood remained 
stationary for awhile, still rolling along the valley, 
which it seemed to fill from side to side ; then we 
noticed a slight decrease, then a progressive and 
rapid one : hope buoyed up our spirits, and we 
thanked the Almighty for our deliverance. As I 
