Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/310

292 Later in the afternoon, we crossed the river, and mounted the ponies waiting for us on the opposite side. Our road for a long way lay between plains of sawahs, at the end of which we turned to the left, and proceeded along a very uneven path leading to a shallow ford, after crossing which we rode on till we came to a broken wooden bridge, which it was impossible to pass. As the stream it spanned was not very wide, and did not appear deep, we endeavoured to urge our ponies to ford it, but neither with whip nor spur could we prevail upon them to make the attempt. The Resident's mandoer and Drahman, who had accompanied us, thinking we could not proceed by this route, set off in search of some other road; and during their absence we again tried our timid animals—this time with better effect, though we well-nigh had reason to regret our rashness. I succeeded in gaining the opposite side, though not without some difficulty, for the bed of the stream