we should have paid dearly for it.  We observed a bank on the north side of the river shortly after this, and I proposed halting on it for the night, for I wished much to put my foot on firm land again.  This, however, not one of the crew would consent to, saying, that if the Gewo Roua, or water elephant, did not kill them, the crocodiles certainly would do so before the morning, and I thought afterwards that we might have been carried off like the Cumbrie people on the islands near Yaoorie, if we had tried the experiment.  Our canoe was only large enough to hold us all when sitting, so that we had no chance of lying down.  Had we been able to muster up thirty thousand cowries at Rabba, we might have purchased one which would have carried us all very comfortably.  A canoe of this sort would have served us for living in entirely, we should have had no occasion to land excepting to obtain our provisions; and having performed our day’s journey, might have anchored fearlessly at night.  Finding we could not induce our people to land, we agreed to continue on all night.  The eastern horizon became very dark, and the lightning more and more vivid; indeed, I never recollect having seen such strong fork lightning before in my life.  All this denoted the approach of a storm.  At eleven P.M. it blew somewhat stronger than a gale, and at midnight the storm was at its height.  The wind was so strong, that it washed over the sides of the canoe several times, so that she was in danger of filling.  Driven about by the wind, our frail little bark became unmanageable; but at length we got near a bank, which in some measure protected us, and we were fortunate enough to lay hold of a thorny tree against which we were driven, and which was growing nearly in the centre of the stream.  Presently we fastened the canoe to its branches, and wrapping our cloaks round our persons, for we felt overpowered with fatigue, and with our legs projecting half over the sides of the little vessel, which, for want of room, we were compelled to do, we lay down to sleep.  There is something, I believe, in the nature of a tempest which is favourable to slumber, at least so thought my brother; for though the thunder continued to roar, and the wind to blow,—­though the rain beat in our faces, and our canoe lay rocking like a cradle, still he slept soundly.  The wind kept blowing hard from the eastward till midnight, when it became calm.  The rain then descended in torrents, accompanied by thunder and lightning of the most awful description.  We lay in our canoe drenched with water, and our little vessel was filling so fast, that two people were obliged to be constantly baling out the water to keep her afloat.  The water-elephants, as the natives term the hippopotami, frequently came snorting near us, but fortunately did not touch our canoe.  The storm continued until three in the morning of the 17th, when it became clear, and we saw the stars sparkling like gems over our heads.  Therefore, we again proceeded on our