t where the bamboos end in sharp points;
our bodies were much torn by the sharp thorns growing on the small
branches; the rain continued to pour without intermission; the wind
still blowed, and each gust caused the bamboos to bend, the flexible
branches of which tore our bodies and faces. I have suffered a great
deal in the course of my life, but no night ever appeared to me so
long and cruel as this! Joachim Balthazard then recovered his speech,
and, in a trembling, broken voice, said to me:

"Ah! Don Pablo, do write I beg of you, to my mother, and tell her
the tragical end of her son!"

I could not help answering him: "You cowardly rascal! Do you think,
then, that I am more at my ease than you are? Hold your tongue,
otherwise I shall make you turn diver, so that I may never hear you
again." Poor Joachim then knew what to do, and did not utter a word;
only from time to time he made us aware of his trouble by his deep
moans.

The wind, which was blowing from the north-west, towards four o'clock
in the morning suddenly changed to the east, and shortly afterwards
gave over. It was almost daylight: we were saved. We could at last
see one another; all four of us looked in a wretched condition; our
clothes being torn to pieces. Our bodies were lacerated, and covered
with deep scratches. The cold had penetrated into the very marrow
of our bones, and the long bath we had taken had wrinkled the skin;
we looked just like drowned people taken out of the water, where
they had been for some hours. Nevertheless, crippled as we were, we
slipped down from the bamboos, and were soon bathing in the waters
of the lake. The effect was healthful and agreeable: it seemed like
a warm bath at 30 degrees of heat.

We were quite restored by this mild temperature. We got our canoe out
of the grove, where fortunately it had been caught so fast that neither
the waves nor the currents could drive it any farther. We again set it
afloat, and soon succeeded in reaching an Indian hut, where we dried
ourselves, and recruited our strength. Calm was now re-established;
the sun shone in all its splendour, but everywhere traces of the
typhoon were visible. In the course of the day we reached Jala-Jala,
where our arrival caused great joy. They knew at home that I was on
the lake, and everything led them to presume that I had perished. My
good and dear Anna threw herself into my arms in tears; she had been
in such anxiety for my safety, that for some mom