Around us the din was horrible; the thunder
was continuous, the echoes of the mountains repeating from distance
to distance its sound, sometimes deadened, and sometimes with awful
grandeur. The wind, which blew with violence, shattered the uppermost
parts of the trees, breaking off large branches, which fell with a
crash to the ground. Some trunks were uprooted, and, while falling,
tore down the boughs of the neighbouring trees. The rain was incessant,
and in the intervals between the thunder we could hear the awful roar
of the waters of a torrent which rushed madly past the base of the
mound where we had taken refuge. Amidst all this frightful commotion,
mournful and dismal sounds were heard, like the howls of a large
dog which had lost its master: they were the cries of the deer in
their distress, seeking for a place of shelter. Nature seemed to
be in convulsions, and to have declared war in every element. The
loose thatch under which we had taken refuge was soon penetrated,
and we were completely deluged. We soon quitted this miserable hole,
preferring to move our stiffened and almost deadened limbs, covered
with the fearful little leeches, which terrible infliction deprived
us of the strength so necessary in our awful position.

I avow that at this moment I sincerely repented my fatal curiosity,
for which I paid so dearly. I could compare this frightful night only
to the one I had passed in the bamboos, when I was wrecked on the
lake. In appearance there was not such pressing danger, for we could
not be swallowed up by the waves; but there were large trees, under
which we were obliged to stop, and one of which might be uprooted
and fall upon us; a bough torn off by the wind might crush us; and
the lightning, equally terrific in its reports and its effects,
might strike us at any moment. One thing was especially painful,
and that was the cold, and the difficulty of moving our frozen and
almost paralysed limbs. We awaited with impatience the cessation of
the storm; but it was not until after three hours of mortal agony that
the thunder gradually ceased. The wind fell; the rain subsided; and
for some time we heard nothing but the large drops which dripped from
the trees, and the dread sound of the torrents. Calm was restored;
the sky became pure and starry: but we were deprived of that view
which gives hope to the traveller, for the forest presented only a
dome of green, impenetrable to the sight.

Exhausted as we we