Sudden Kise in the River. 
289 
them of the terrible losses entiiiled by advt;rse climate in spite of all 
the sleejDless uights during which, afteo.* a more thau I'elaxing day's 
ijouriiey I liatl, fco, dry miy paper at the üre — how I wished that these 
critics might learn from their own experience what it meant, with the 
means at my disposal, to make collections in the ti'opics in thick and 
impenetrable forests, where often for a fortnight at a time not a human 
habitation is to be seen, and yet, notwithstanding all the heavy losses, 
preserve so much as I did for the scieutilic societies at home. 
<J79. In the evening the hunters br(juglit us one of those pretty deer 
which the Indians call Waliltisiri. It is the snuiUest sx*ecie8 met 
with in Guiana, hardly V/i ft. high. 
080. On the following nu)]-iiing the river had already overflowed its 
banks and as a result the Avater-surface ])ro]ier was covered with large 
white foam-flakes from the trees uprooted by the raging current, while 
an almost continuous dull roaring 'sound indicated only too ch^arly that 
the mighty river was still continuing its work of destruction. The 
booming and the thundering on the river-banks, the crashing together 
of their timl)ers, the crackling and the breaking of the branches when 
the fallen giants banked u]) against one another in one of the bends. — 
all this in conjunction with the noise of the falling rain, had something 
so horr-ible, about it that during the following night it se.ared ns mon» 
than once out of our hammocks, until at last the water in the tent 
showed that the flood\water had reached up to our level, a fact that the 
darkness had prevented us noticing. Within 30 honrs the river had 
risen IO2 feet, and it was still rising with every second. 
681. The meteorological observations during our stay in Aripai gave 
the following results:—- 
Date & No. 
of Obsvns. 
Instruments. 
Average. 
Highest. 
Lowest. 
From 6th May 
to 7th May 
Barometer... 
Attached Thermometer... 
29-667 in. 
77-72° 
29-706 in 
80-78° 
29-606 in. 
72-14° 
11 Observa- 
tions 
Thermometer Dry Bulb ... 
do. Wet Bulb ... 
77-80° 
76-72° 
81-20° 
79-70° 
72-50° 
72-10° 
682. Shortly before our depar-ture from Aripai , the inhabitants 
brought us about ?>0 cassava cakes for Avhich the women asked beads, but 
the men knives and fish-liooks. A pretty little girl, fascinated by the sight 
of the beads, but who had not been able to bring any cassava, offered 
us her white hen and a little liasketful of chickens. We gave her what 
she wanted withont taking away her pets. Thi« free gift came so un- 
expectedly to the dear little maid that she wonderingly looked for- quite 
a while with surprised gaze at the lieads, then at the hen, and finally at 
us. 
683. After bringing the boats up to the tent we made our way in 
between the trees to the river-bed whore a number of jutting rocks and 
cliffs materially increased our labour, so that we could only progress inch 
SI. 
