That
Providence, whose protection has hitherto been so beneficently extended
to us, will, we confidently hope, continue that protection, and lead us
in safety to our journey's end.
Owing most probably to the violent motion it experienced, my chronometer
stopped: this accident was the more to be lamented, as the watch with
which I was furnished by the crown had also stopped, and we had now
nothing to regulate our time by.
July 26. - We passed a dreadful night; the elements seemed to be bursting
asunder, and we were almost deluged with rain. Towards noon the weather
partially cleared tip. Our design of moving was however rendered
abortive: we found it impossible to bring the horses near the tents to
lade them, and the rain recommencing with great violence, continued
throughout the day. An inmate of an alarming description took up its
lodging in our tent during the last night, probably washed out of its
hole
by the rain: a large diamond snake was discovered coiled up among the
flour bags, four or five feet from the doctor's bed.
July 27. - This morning the weather cleared up just in time to enable us
to retreat to the river banks in safety, for we were washed out of the
tent.
