The next morning we found the waters had gone down sufficiently to enable us to venture cautiously. It was not, however, a very desirable experience; about twenty men supported the hammock while the waters were foaming and roaring beneath and coming right over the sides of the canvas; two men who were attempting to lift it out of the water by holding on to the sides were carried away by the strength of the current, then all the remaining availables made a hasty grab at the other side, with the result that I was on the point of being overturned and pitched out. I just managed to save myself by hanging on to the pole, but got drenched through. The following morning we started off at 7 a.m. The scenery was enchanting and the air very invigorating. We continued steadily marching until 11.30, passing through hamlets absolutely deserted on account of the destructive visits of the elephants, which had torn up the banana trees from the roots, trampled down the Indian corn, and razed to the ground the little grass houses of the people. They themselves had fled in terror, leaving the wild pigs to feast on their potato patches. The four and a half hours’ walk gave us a decided hankering after an A.B.C. or Gatti, also a change of clothing, as our boots felt like water cisterns and our skirts were weighted with mud and water that literally trickled off the edges. The porters put our boxes down under a tree and went off in search of what they could pick up in the way of food, while we fished out some dry things and indulged in a meal of goat soup and cold chicken. Our guide told us another hour and a half would find us in camp, but at the end of two hours hard walking and no signs of our tent being visible we inquired how much further had we to go. “Oh,” said one of the porters, “it is impossible to halt here, three hours more will bring us to water and food.” This fairly did for us; we had somehow doled out our walking powers without reckoning for this extra distance, and we felt decidedly despondent. The natives always underestimate distance in order that the very prospect should not have a discouraging effect on a pedestrian’s spirits.