urrent so
rapid, that I was able to make but slight progress across the river,
when the raft began to pitch again, and I found that I was in another
rapid. Away I was whirled as before. There were more rocks in this
rapid; at all events the raft drove against more, and it began to suffer
from the repeated shocks it was receiving--parts of it got loosened, and
I dreaded every moment to see it part asunder, and to find myself
hurried amid its fragments to destruction. Again a space of smooth
appeared, but it was smooth because it was deep, and I could make but
little way towards the shore among its whirling eddies. Still for the
present I was safe, and had time to look about me. Thus I floated on,
when a loud thundering noise assailed my ears, and a mass of mist rose
before my eyes, giving evidence indubitable that I was approaching a
formidable cataract. I had seen Niagara. Should this be only half its
height it would be sufficient to make mincemeat of me. In vain I looked
around for aid, and clinging desperately to my raft, I resigned myself
to my fate.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

UNEXPECTEDLY REACH THE BANK, AND LAND IN SAFETY--MY CLOTHES ARE IN
TATTERS--AFTER MAKING A LONG JOURNEY FIND THAT I HAVE RETURNED TO THE
VERY SPOT I LEFT--ENCOUNTER A HUNGRY WOLF--SUFFER FROM WANT OF WATER--
MEET A LYNX, BUT FIND NO LIQUID--GO TO BED AMONG SOME NESTS OF
RATTLESNAKES--SLAUGHTER A HOST OF SNAKES AND SIP THE DEW OF THE
MORNING--MORE RATTLESNAKES--MY ONWARD JOURNEY CONTINUED--MY CRY IS STILL
FOR WATER--OBTAIN A LARGER SHARE THAN I REQUIRE--I SWIM DOWN THE STREAM,
AND ON LANDING AM RECEIVED BY A HUGE GRIZZLY.

There was only one way I conceived by which, humanly speaking, I could
possibly have been saved. I was whirled furiously down the current. I
saw, a short distance before me, the commencement of the rapid which led
to the cataract, when I felt the raft turn slightly round, and half
stop, as it were, and by the appearance of the water I was convinced
that it had got into an eddy. I darted down my pole. It speedily
struck the bottom. I shoved on with all my might. New energy returned
to me. I sprang to my feet. The raft no longer advanced towards the
rapid, but I found that I could urge it surely and steadily towards the
shore. A shout of joy, and an exclamation of thankfulness escaped my
lips as it reached the bank, and, by the aid of my pole, I leaped on to
the dry land a dozen feet at least from the edge. I w