It was about twelve feet in
height, and perhaps twenty feet in width. The stream, which, like
nearly all Martial rivers, is wide and shallow, had during the last
fifty miles of our course grown narrower, with a depth at the same
time constantly lessening, so that some care was required on the part
of the pilot to avoid running aground. A stream of twenty inches in
depth, affording room for two boats to pass abreast, is considered
navigable for vessels only carrying passengers; thirty inches are
required to afford a course which for heavy freight is preferable to
the road. Eveena had taken it for granted that we should disembark
here, and it was not till we had come within a hundred yards of the
landing-place--where the bank was perpendicular and levelled to a
height above the water, which enabled passengers to step directly from
the deck of the boat--without slackening our speed, that the
possibility of our intending to accompany the boat on its subterrene
course occurred to her. As she did not speak, but merely drew closer
to me, and held fast my hand, I had no idea of her real distress till
we were actually at the mouth of the black and very frightful-looking
passage, and the pilot had lighted the electric lamp.
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