r different from
those that had been taken into calculation. His voyage, so far, had
been successful. He had escaped unharmed by rocks or crocodiles; but he
had evidence that a danger, as much, if not more to be dreaded, now
threatened him. The water seemed gliding down an inclined plane, so
rapidly was it sweeping him on; and beyond this, directly before him, he
could hear the roaring of a cataract! What had been at first only a
conjecture, soon became a certainty. He was going at arrow-like speed
towards the brow of a waterfall. Throwing all his energies into the
effort, he struggled to reach the shore at a point where the bank was
accessible.

He had nearly succeeded. Ten feet nearer, and he would have been able
to grasp the o'erhanging bushes. But that distance, little as it was,
could not be accomplished, and on he glided towards the engulfing fall.

On the brink of the water-precipice he saw the sharp point of a rock
jutting about three feet above the water. More by good luck, than any
guidance on his part, he came within reach of it as he was hurried
onward. Reaching out, he caught hold; and hugging it with both arms, he
was able to retain his hold. His body was swung around to the leeward
of the rock, until his legs hung dangling over the fall. Although the
force of the current was partly broken by the interposition of the rock,
it required him to exert all his strength to save himself from being
washed over. After a time, he succeeded in gaining a footing. There
was a little ledge on the rock just large enough for one foot, while the
other sought support on the pointed apex. To have attempted to swim
ashore could only end in his destruction. Though almost within leaping
distance of the bank, he had no place to spring from, and to have fallen
short, would have been fatal. He could do nothing but remain as he was.

Hours passed, and the torture of standing in one position irksome at
that, became unbearable. He could only obtain rest by getting into the
water again and hugging the rock with both arms as he had done before.
But this method of resting himself, if such it could be called, could
not be endured longer than two or three minutes, and he was compelled
soon to return to the upright attitude.

"There is not the least danger of crocodiles here," thought he while in
the water hanging on to the rock. "Should one pass this way, it would
not have time for touching me, even if it were starvi