Our road lay up the Ashburton,which we had repeatedly to cross and recross.
A dray going through a river is a pretty sight enough when you are utterly unconcerned in the contents thereof;the rushing water stemmed by the bullocks and the dray,the energetic appeals of the driver to Tommy or Nobbler to lift the dray over the large stones in the river,the creaking dray,the cracking whip,form a tout ensemble rather agreeable than otherwise.But when the bullocks,having pulled the dray into the middle of the river,refuse entirely to pull it out again;when the leaders turn sharp round and look at you,or stick their heads under the bellies of the polars;when the gentle pats on the forehead with the stock of the whip prove unavailing,and you are obliged to have recourse to strong measures,it is less agreeable:especially if the animals turn just after having got your dray half-way up the bank,and,twisting it round upon a steeply inclined surface,throw the centre of gravity far beyond the base:over goes the dray into the water.Alas,my sugar!my tea!my flour!my crockery!It is all over--drop the curtain.
I beg to state my dray did not upset this time,though the centre of gravity fell far without the base:what Newton says on that subject is erroneous;so are those illustrations of natural philosophy,in which a loaded dray is represented as necessarily about to fall,because a dotted line from the centre of gravity falls outside the wheels.It takes a great deal more to upset a well-loaded dray than one would have imagined,although sometimes the most unforeseen trifle will effect it.