Untitled - The Alfred Russel Wallace Website

156 NOTES OF A BOTANIST CHAP.
-over them. Four bamboos were laid side by side
before any of the Indians would venture to pass to
the other extremity, though one of them was afterwards
drawn away to enter into the composition of
the third bridge. They were at length securely
lashed together, and then the third bridge was
completed with more facility, being somewhat
shorter though sloping from a high to a low rock.
The fourth and last bridge was short and speedily
constructed. It was near noon when the bridges
were ready for
crossing. It had been raining
heavily for some time, and the river already began
to show signs of a further rise ;
our safety depended
therefore on getting over as speedily as possible.
And now became evident what I had all along
feared, namely, that the second bridge was so long
and so weak, and bent so much when a man went
over it, that a very little addition to his weight
would plainly either cause it to break or the farther
end to slip off the rock whereon it rested but too
insecurely. To get across my heavy boxes would
be plainly impossible; the Indians indeed flatly
refused to risk themselves on the bridge under the
weight of any one of my boxes.
It was doubtful if an additional bamboo would
make the bridge strong enough, and there was now
no time to get one out. I had therefore no alternative
but to leave my goods where they were, and
trust to be able to send from Banos to fetch them
away. With some difficulty I got across my bed
and a change of linen and what little money I had,
and left my boxes as well protected as I could
from the moisture both above and beneath.
We were a good while in all getting across, for