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CH. XXVIII.] copiously indulged with that element. Notwithstanding the incessant rain, we were suffocatingly hot, and were obliged to leave the hut open, so that the torrent poured into it not only by the door-way but dashed over us in a volume of mist through the open reed work of the walls: if a moist and hot atmosphere was ever encountered to excess, we had the advantage of proving the nature of it on this occasion: when the sun rose, we got up, but seemed to be walking about in a steam-bath: the luggage had been covered up and was kept tolerably dry and was now put on board one of the ferry boats to convey us to the opposite shore.

The mules were driven through the dense underwood to a point about a mile up the river, for the purpose of landing at the proper ford; which they could not have done without this precaution, to counteract the rapidity of the current, which was running at near five knots an hour.

We had embarked with our luggage in