214 WEYNE CITY. Book II. 
actually ran upon one of these snags, in which one wheel 
of our boat was caught. The steamer cracked and fell 
on her side, the water rushed over the lower deck and 
extinguished the fire. Boxes, casks, and a quantity of 
furniture which formed part of the freight, fell from the 
lower, middle, and upper decks into the water, and floated 
down the river, together with our firewood. The boat 
had meanwhile got extricated, but she was now carried 
down the river sideways, and ran the risk of drifting 
upon other snags and being broken in two. However, 
we succeeded in reaching the shore, and lay to. At 
the moment the boat fell on one side supper had just been 
served : the tables were . upset ; plates and dishes, jugs, 
cups and saucers, and all the good things prepared for us, 
lay scattered on the floor, and we had to wait until eleven 
o'clock before a fresh supper could be prepared. The 
coolness of the Americans — even of the female sex — on 
such occurrences is exemplary, and compensates in a great 
measure for their carelessness. The visible danger in 
which on this occasion we were placed did not at all 
interrupt the cheerful conversation of the ladies, who were 
gathered on the stern of the vessel. After six hours' 
labour the boat was free to continue her voyage by moon- 
light, but we had still to work our way for four or five 
miles through a dangerous passage, beset with innumerable 
snags, before getting into safe navigable water, which we 
reached at one o'clock in the morning. 
The next morning, under a clear sky, such a fresh west 
wind met us that the steamer, which had great difficulty in 
making head against the stream, was almost stopped in 
her course. At noon, however, we reached Weyne City, 
where we disembarked. 
The air had been agreeably cool on the river ; on shore 
