For a second she would gaze at the unusual object and then move off--she and her cow.

One old dame happened to be nearer the water's edge than the others, the voyager saluted by standing up in the water and shouting: "Bon jour" She crossed herself, and fled.
Next morning he was nearing the rapids of the Saute du Rhone, and inquired of the people he saw: "How far is the Saute?
"About two kilometers," was the answer.
"Which side shall I take for safety ?" "The left." The next one told him to take the right, and at last he was advised to keep in the middle.
Finding he could gain no reliable information, he stood upright and looked about to see, if possible, what the danger was.

Ahead of him was a rapid, running amid big, black rocks and crossed by a bridge which was crowded with people.

It was too late to think of stopping himself and be swept into and through it like an arrow; but at the bottom he was carried against a wall of rock and nearly blinded.

He hung there for a few moments to recover himself, and again felt the current bearing him away almost as fast as he approached.