The water still continued to rise, and to foam over the margin of the island. We were compelled by degrees to retreat towards the centre, and as there was no sign of abatement, and as the whole valley had become one rushing river, covered with floating trees,--some shooting singly along, others entangled into rafts or floating islands, I began to entertain serious misgivings. Never was there a more perfect picture of a deluge! It was the Biblical deluge in miniature: and I calculated with intense interest how many inches additional rise would utterly destroy our goods, and how many inches more peril our lives. The most gloomy forebodings troubled me. I had always looked forward to Aheer as a haven of safety, and instead thereof it had proved to be a place of persecution. When men had ceased to fight against us, nature began. I thought I could hear the fanatical 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 reflected 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, then, 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 have mentioned, I have seen floods before, but never one on so grand a scale as this, which was truly African in its magnitude and character. As if Providence were now resolved to visit us with marked favour, just at the moment when the waters began visibly to decrease, and patches of land to appear here and there, the escort sent by Sultan En-Noor came riding over the neighbouring heights. Our people discovered them, and shouted, "See, the Kailouees! the Kailouees!"