he ducks, and thought they might have at
any rate saved their own lives; but nothing could alter the melancholy
returns of the missing and dead. My poultry-yard was, for all practical
purposes, annihilated, just as it was at its greatest perfection and the
pride and joy of my heart. All that day the rain descended steadily
in torrents; there was not the slightest break or variation in the
downpour: it was as heavy as that of the Jamaica _seasons_ of May and
October. F----'s fever left him at the end of twelve hours, and he got
up and came into the drawing-room; his first glance out of the window,
which commanded a view of the flat for two or three miles, showed him
how much the waters had risen since midnight; and he said that in all
the years he had known those particular creeks he had never seen them so
high: still I thought nothing of it. There was no cessation in the rain
for exactly twenty-four hours; but at midnight on Monday, just as poor
F---- was getting another attack of fever, it changed into heavy, broken
showers, with little pauses of fine drizzle between, and by morning it
showed signs of clearing, but continued at intervals till midday. The
effect was extraordinary, considering the comparatively short time the
real downpour had lasted. The whole flat was under water, the creeks
were flooded beyond their banks for half a mile or so on each side, and
the river Selwyn, which ran under some hills, bounding our view, was
spread out, forming an enormous lake. A very conspicuous object on these
opposite hills, which are between three and four miles distant, was
a bold cliff known by the name of the "White Rocks," and serving as a
landmark to all the countryside: we could hardly believe our eyes when
we missed the most prominent of these and could see only a great bare
rent in the mountain. The house was quite surrounded by water and stood
on a small island; it was impossible even to wade for more than a few
yards beyond the dry ground, for the water became quite deep and the
current was running fast. F----'s fever lasted its twelve hours; but I
began to be fidgety at the state of prostration it left him in, and when
Tuesday night brought a third and sharper attack, I determined to make
him go to town and see a doctor during his next interval of freedom from
it.

Wednesday morning was bright and sunny, but the waters had not much
diminished: however, we knew every hour must lessen them, and I only
waited for F---