ver was in full flood, more than
twice its usual breadth, and running like a mill-race. I knew at once
that I should have a very tough job to get across, for a flooded African
river is no joke, I can tell you. But I knew also that my wife would be
terribly anxious if I didn't come back on the day I had fixed--South
Africa being a place where a good many things may happen to a man--and
so I determined to chance it.

Just at the water's edge I found an old Bushman that I knew well, who
had a boat of his own; so I hailed him at once:

"Well, Kaloomi, what will you take to put me across the river?"

"No go fifty dollar this time, baas" (master), said the old fellow, in
his half-Dutch, half-English jargon. "Boat no get 'cross to-day; water
groed" (great).

And never a bit could I persuade him, although I offered him money
enough to make any ordinary Bushman jump head-first down a precipice.
Money was good, he said, but it would be no use to him when he was
drowned; and in short he wouldn't budge.

"Well, if you won't put me across," said I at last, "lend me your boat,
and I'll just do the job for myself; I can't very well take my horse
with me, so I'll just leave him here in pledge that I'll pay for the
boat when I come back."

"Keep horse for you, master, quite willing; but s'pose you try cross
to-day, you never come back to ask for him."

He spoke so positively that, although I'm not easily frightened, I
certainly did feel rather uncomfortable. However, when you've got to do
a thing of that sort, the less you think of it the better, so I jumped
into the boat and shoved off.

I had barely got clear of the shore when I found that the old fellow was
right, for the boat shot down the stream like an arrow. I saw in a
moment that there was no hope of paddling her across, and that all I
could do was just to keep her head straight. But I hadn't the chance of
doing even that very long, for just then a big tree came driving along,
and hitting my boat full on the quarter, smashed her like an egg-shell.
I had just time to clutch the projecting roots, and whisk myself up on
to them, and then tree and I went away down stream together, at I don't
know how many miles an hour.

At first I was so rejoiced at escaping just when all seemed over with
me, that I didn't think much of what was to come next; but before long I
got something to think about with a vengeance. The tree, as I've said,
was a large one, and the branch end (the