isted all Kerr's efforts; and he was now seen to
let himself drop from the eaves on a small speck of ground higher than
the rest, close to the foundation of the back wall of the buildings,
which was next the spectators. There he finally succeeded in bringing
down the women; and there he and they stood, without even room to move.

[Picture: Perilous situation of Kerr and his family]

Some people went on horseback to try to procure boats. They managed to
get on some way by keeping the line of road. The water was so deep that
the horses were frequently swimming; but at length the current became so
strong that they were compelled to seek the rising grounds. Dr. Brands
attempted to reach the bridge of Findhorn, in hopes of getting one of the
fishermen's cobbles. As he was approaching the bridge he learned that
the last of the three arches had fallen the instant before; and when he
got to the brink, the waters were sweeping on as if it had never been,
making the rocks and houses vibrate with a distinct and tremulous motion.
The current was playing principally against the southern approach of the
bridge, and soon the usually dry arch, at its further end, burst with a
loud report; its fragments, mixed with water, being blown into the air as
if by gunpowder. The boats had all been swept away, and the fishermen's
houses were already one mass of ruin. The centre of the main stream was
hurried on at an elevation many feet higher than the rest of the
surrounding sea of waters; the mighty rush of which displayed its power
in the ruin it occasioned. Magnificent trees, with all their branches,
were dashing and rending against the rock, and the roaring and crashing
sound that prevailed was absolutely deafening.

As there was no chance of getting a boat the Doctor returned with
difficulty to the house, his mare swimming a great part of the way. On
again looking through the telescope at poor Kerr and his family, they
were seen huddled together on a spot of ground a few feet square, some
forty or fifty yards below their inundated dwelling. {55} He was
sometimes standing and sometimes sitting on a small cask, and, as the
beholders fancied, watching with intense anxiety the progress of the
flood, and trembling for every large tree that it brought sweeping past
them. His wife, covered with a blanket, sat shivering on a bit of a log,
one child in her lap, and a girl of about seventeen, and a boy of about
twelve years of