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On the Banks of the Amazon

by William Henry Giles Kingston · English · Gutenberg #21385 · 737,901 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: On the Banks of the Amazon

Author: William Henry Giles Kingston

Illustrator: William H. C. Groome


        
Release date: May 8, 2007 [eBook #21385]

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21385

Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON ***




Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England




On the Banks of the Amazon, by W.H.G. Kingston.

________________________________________________________________________

This is a quite long book, very well written, about a trip down the
Amazon.  There is rather a lot of "Natural History", but not too much,
because it has all been made easy to follow, and is very interesting.
All sorts of interesting things happen on this voyage.

The copy used for digitisation had a rather furry and small typeface.
Not one of the clearest we have ever seen.  Consequently it was rather
heavy labour trying to iron out the misreads and typos, and it may well
be that some remain, though nowhere near the prescribed limit of 99.95%.

There are 132,948 words in the book, so 1 in 2000 means that we must
have less than 66 errors still remaining, which I am sure is the case.

It is a rather curious thing that one is reminded at times of
Ballantyne's "Martin Rattler," written very much earlier, even down to
to the presence of a "recluse".  That doesn't mean you won't enjoy the
book just as much as you might have enjoyed "Martin Rattler."  Best, as
always, as an audiobook.

________________________________________________________________________

ON THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.



CHAPTER ONE.

MY SCHOOL-BOY DAYS AND FRIENDS.

I might find an excuse for being proud, if I were so,--not because my
ancestors were of exalted rank or title, or celebrated for noble deeds
or unbounded wealth, or, indeed, on account of any ordinary reasons,--
but because I was born in one of the highest cities in the world.  I saw
the light in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, then forming the northern
part of the Spanish province of Peru.  The first objects I remember
beyond the courtyard of our house in which I used to play, with its
fountain and flower-bed in the centre, and surrounding arches of
sun-burned bricks, were lofty mountains towering up into the sky.  From
one of them, called Pichincha, which looked quite close through the
clear atmosphere of that region, I remember seeing flames of fire and
dark masses of smoke, intermingled with dust and ashes, spouting forth.
Now and then, when the wind blew from it, thick showers of dust fell
down over us, causing great consternation; for many thought that stones
and rocks might follow and overwhelm the city.  All day long a lofty
column of smoke rose up towards the sky, and at night a vast mass of
fire was seen ascending from the summit; but no harm was done to the
city, so that we could gaze calmly at the spectacle without
apprehension.  Pichincha is, indeed, only one of several mountains in
the neighbourhood from the tops of which bonfires occasionally blaze
forth.  Further off, but rising still higher, is the glittering cone of
Cotopaxi, which, like a tyrant, has made its power felt by the
devastation it has often caused in the plains which surround its base:
while near it rise the peaks of Corazon and Ruminagui.  Far more dreaded
than their fires is the quaking and heaving and tumbling about of the
earth, shaking down as it does human habitations and mountain-tops,
towers and steeples, and uprooting trees, and opening wide chasms,
turning streams from their courses, and overwhelming towns and villages,
and destroying in other ways the works of men's hands, and human beings
themselves, in its wild commotion.

These burning mountains, in spite of their fire and smoke, appear but
insignificant pigmies compared to that mighty mountain which rises in
their neighbourhood--the majestic Chimborazo.  We could see far off its
snow-white dome, free of clouds, towering into the deep blue sky, many
thousand feet above the ocean; while on the other side its brother,
Tunguragua, shoots up above the surrounding heights, but, in spite of
its ambitious efforts, has failed to reach the same altitude I might
speak of Antisana, and many other lofty heights with hard names? but I
fancy that a fair idea may be formed of that wonderful region of giant
mountains from the description I have already given.

I used often to think that I should like to get to the top of
Chimborazo, the way up looked so easy at a distance; but no one has ever
reached its summit, though several valiant philosophers and others have
made the attempt.

The mountain range I have described, of which Chimborazo was long
considered the highest point, till Aconcagua in Chili was found to be
higher, rises from the ocean in the far-off southern end of America, and
runs up along its western shore, ever proud and grand, with snow-topped
heights rising tens of thousands of feet above the ocean, till it sinks
once more towards the northern extremity of the southern half of the
continent, running along the Isthmus of Panama, through Mexico at a less
elevation, again to rise in the almost unbroken range of the Rocky
Mountains, not to sink till it reaches the snow-covered plains of the
Arctic region.

But I am becoming too scientific and geographical; and I must confess
that it was not till many years after the time of which I am speaking
that I knew anything about the matter.  My father, Don Martin Fiel, had
been for some years settled in Quito as a merchant.  His mother was
Spanish, or partly so, born in Peru--I believe that she had some of the
blood of the Incas in her veins, a matter of which she was not a little
proud, I have been told--but his father was an Englishman, and our
proper family name was Faithful.  My father, having lived for many years
in the Spanish South American provinces, had obtained the rights and
privileges of a Spaniard.  He had, however, been sent over to England
for his education, and was a thorough Englishman at heart.  He had made
during his younger days several visits to England for mercantile
purposes, and during one of them had married my mother.  He was, though
really a Protestant--I am sorry to have to make the confession--
nominally a Roman Catholic; for he, being a Spanish subject, could not
otherwise at that time have resided in any part of the territories of
Spain and carried on his business with freedom: but I feel now that no
person has a right to conceal their true faith, and to pretend to
believe what is false, for the sake of any worldly advantage.  My
mother, however, had stipulated that all her children should be brought
up as Protestants.  To this he had agreed, though he found when he had
sons that he was in consequence subjected to considerable annoyance from
the priests, who threatened to denounce him as a heretic.  To avoid
this, he had to send his children to England at an early age for their
education; indeed, had we remained at Quito we could only have obtained
a very poor one at any public school or college.  It will be understood
from what I have said, that though we were really English, and I have
always felt like an Englishman, we had both Spanish and native
connections, which will account for some of the circumstances which
afterwards occurred to us.

My father, though he himself resided at Quito, had also a house of
business at Guayaquil, which imported European manufactured goods, and
exported in return Peruvian bark and other articles, of which I shall
by-and-by have to speak.  He was greatly respected by his
fellow-citizens, although they might have been somewhat jealous of him
for succeeding in his business through his energy and perseverance,
while they themselves, sitting idle all the day smoking their cigarettes
without attempting to exert their minds, were left behind.  My dear
mother lived very much alone, for the society of the ladies of Quito,
though they are very charming in manner, afforded her but little
satisfaction, from their utter want of education.

I remember the joy which the arrival of my eldest sister, Fanny--or Dona
Francisca, as the Spaniards called her--who had gone to school in
England, and Aunt Martha, who brought her back, caused in the family.  I
had another sister, Ellen, much younger; a sweet, dear little girl, of
whom I was very fond.  She was indeed the pet of the family.  My elder
brother, John, was at school in England.  I remember thinking Aunt
Martha, who was my mother's elder sister, very stiff and formal; and I
was not at all pleased when she expressed her intention of teaching me
and keeping me in order.  My mother's health had been delicate, and I
had been left very much to the care of old Domingos, a negro servant of
my father's, who had been with him since his boyhood, and with my
grandfather before him.  He was the butler, or major-domo, the head over
all the other servants, and, I believe, deservedly trusted.  Among them
I remember best little Maria, a young negro slave girl who attended
especially on Ellen; and Antonio, a Gallego from the north of Spain, a
worthy, honest fellow, who had been in the family from his boyhood, and
was much attached to us all.  I soon learned to like Aunt Martha better
than I had expected, for though I thought her looks very terrible at
first--and she was certainly firm--she was really kind and gentle.
Under her instruction I gained the first knowledge of the letters of the
alphabet, of which I was before profoundly ignorant.  Of course she was
very gentle with Ellen, as everybody was, and Fanny seemed to be very
fond of her.  She was courageous, too, as I before long had evidence.  I
remember one night being suddenly lifted in her arms, and carried out by
her into the patio of courtyard.  There was a strange rumbling noise
underneath our feet, and I could see the stout walls of our house
rocking to and fro; and yet, though the earth was tumbling about, she
did not tremble in the least, but I heard her telling the servants not
to shriek out or to pray to the saints, who could not help them, but to
put their trust in God, who made the world, and who would save them from
danger if it was his good will.  It was a very fearful night, however,
and though I believe the earthquake did not last long, it tumbled down,
during the few minutes of its duration, a number of buildings, and many
of the inhabitants were buried beneath the ruins.  Our house, however,
which was on the outskirts of the city, and had no upper story, although
some of the walls were cracked, escaped without further injury; and
before morning we were in our beds again, and I, for my part, was
sleeping soundly.

A short time after this I found that some great event was about to take
place, and I saw trunks being packed; and my mother, who had been ill
for some time, was very busy, and looked, I often thought, somewhat sad;
and then I heard that she and Ellen and I were going to England, to be
accompanied by Domingos and Maria, and that we were to remain there some
time, and that I was to go to school, and then, if my father did not
join us, that John and Ellen and I were to come back together with our
mother, unless she returned before that time.  Aunt Martha and Fanny
were to stay and take care of my father.  Of course I was highly
delighted when I heard this, and began packing a box with my playthings,
and all sorts of articles, and was very indignant when Maria told me
that they were not to go.  I do not remember much about the journey,
except that my father came with us, and that the party rode on mules;
that Domingos carried me before him; that we went up and down mountains
and into deep valleys; and that sometimes it was very hot, and sometimes
very cold; and that we stopped at very uncivilised-looking
resting-places at night; and that at last we reached a large town, close
to the sea, which was, I have since learned, Guayaquil.  I remember
seeing some magnificent fruits--pine-apples, oranges, lemons, limes,
alligator-pears, melons, and many others--and eating some of them, or
probably I should not have recollected the circumstance.  The place was
very busy, and far more people were moving about than I had been
accustomed to see at Quito; and in the harbour were a number of
vessels--large ships and small ones, and curious rafts, on which the
natives were sailing or paddling about, called _balsas_.  They were made
of light balsa wood, which is very buoyant.  They were of all sizes, and
some had come in from a considerable distance along the coast.  Then my
father accompanied us on board a big ship, and took an affectionate
leave of my mother and sister and me; and we all cried very much at
parting, at least Ellen and I did, though I was so well pleased with all
the sights I witnessed that I soon forgot my sorrow.  Then the sails of
the _Pizarro_--that was the name of our ship--were set, and we glided
out of the harbour, while the boat containing my father returned to the
shore.  The _Pizarro_ was, I should say, a Spanish ship, commanded by
Captain Lopez, a very worthy man, in whom my father had great
confidence, or he would not have committed our mother and us to his
charge.  At that time Spanish vessels alone were allowed by the
Spaniards to trade to the ports of their colonies, which contributed
with many other causes greatly to retard their progress.  I, however,
knew nothing about such matters at that time.  I remember the compass in
the binnacle placed before a big wheel, at which a man was always
standing steering the ship, and I was told that we were sailing south.
I thought the ocean, which was blue, and calm, and glittering in the
sunshine, must be very wide, and wondered where it could end, or whether
it had an end towards the west.  On the east was the coast of Peru, and
I could see the lofty snow-capped mountains rising up out of the plain,
looking as if they were intended to bear up the sky should it come down
towards the earth.  Day after day we glided on.  There they were as high
as ever, apparently quite close to us, though I heard the captain tell
my mother that they were fifty miles off or more.  I scarcely believed
him, though I did not think so big and grave a man could tell a story.
I did not understand at that time to what a distance objects can be seen
in that pure, clear atmosphere.  We after that stood off the coast for
many hours, and yet they appeared almost as high as ever.  The mountains
I saw were the Andes or the Cordilleras, among which I had lived so long
without having a clear idea of their extent.

We were not idle during the voyage, for our mother set to work the
second day we were at sea to give us our lessons.  She had made a point
of teaching us English as soon as we could utter a word; but though
Ellen spoke it very well from being always with her, I spoke Spanish
mixed with Quichua, the native Indian tongue, much more readily.  We
now, however, learned all our lessons in English, and read a great deal,
so that I got on rapidly.

The weather at length began to grow unusually cold, and the sky was
covered with clouds.  We put on warm clothes, and kept much oftener than
usual in the cabin.  The ship too began to tumble about, and I thought
sometimes would be sent right over.  I remember inquiring seriously if a
_waterquake_ were taking place; for I had hitherto seen the ocean so
calm, that I fancied it would always remain so, and that it was only the
earth which was given to shaking and tumbling about.  The wind whistled
and roared, and the spray flew over the deck, and the sailors went out
on the yards and reefed the sails; but no one seemed to mind what was
happening, so I was soon content, and thought all was right; and when I
looked on the waves, it struck me that they were not a quarter as high
as the mountains I had been accustomed to see, and wondered how they
were able to tumble the great big ship about in the way they did.  Still
on we went day after day, and I discovered that we were sailing in an
opposite direction to that we had before steered.  I could not make it
out, till the captain showed me a chart, and gave me my first lesson in
geography on a grand scale; and I then saw that we had come down the
west coast of South America, and were now sailing northward along its
eastern coast.

I was very glad when I could go on deck again without greatcoat, and the
sun shone forth as brightly almost as it does at Quito.  Then in a
little time the weather got very hot again, and there was no wind, and
the ship lay on the glassy sea, her white sails flapping against the
masts.  There we lay day after day, and I began to think that at that
rate we should never get to England; but Captain Lopez told me that I
need not trouble myself about the matter, as the wind was sure to come
some day or other, and that then we should glide along as fast as ever.
I found that he was right, though we were becalmed several times after
that.

At length we saw the crew very busy in polishing up the ship, and
ranging the cables along the deck, as getting them ready for anchoring
in called; and men were aloft all day looking out ahead; and then came
the shout of "Terra! terra!--Espana!" and I found that we were
approaching the coast of Spain.  The next morning when I went on deck
the ship was at anchor, surrounded by land, with a large city on one
side, and other towns or villages scattered about on the other.  This
was the beautiful Bay of Cadiz.  Near us lay a large ship with the
English flag flying at her peak.  Captain Lopez went on board her, and
then hurried on shore with certain papers in his hand; and when he
returned, we all went on board the English ship.  Soon after, the anchor
was hove up, the sails let fall, and away we sailed out of the harbour.
Thus we did not even set foot on Spanish soil.  I asked my mother the
reason of this: she replied, that finding the ship on the point of
sailing, she did not like to lose the opportunity of going to England in
her; that the ship was called the _Inca_, commanded by Captain Byles,
with whom she and my father were acquainted.

I remember that Captain Byles was very kind and attentive, that the
cabin was very neat and clean--a quality for which that of the _Pizarro_
was not remarkable--while the English crew, many of whom were old
men-of-war's-men, paid off at the end of the war, were far more orderly
than the Spaniards.  There was a black cook, Sam by name, and a white
goat.  With the former we soon struck up a friendship, for he was
good-natured and kind to us, and a most intelligent fellow; the latter
used to chase us round and round the deck, and several times tumbled me
head over heels when I jumped before her to prevent her from butting at
Ellen.  Of Sam I shall have to speak more by-and-by.  I do not remember
many more incidents of the voyage till one day I saw the men heaving the
lead, and I found that we were in the chops of the Channel; and then I
heard the shout of "Land! land!" from one of the crew at the mast-head,
and I was told that England was in sight; and after a time I saw a
light-blue line away over the bow on the left side, and heard that it
was the Lizard, which I explained to Ellen was not a creature, but a
point of land at the west end of England.  With a fine breeze,
studdingsails on either side, the colours flying, the sky bright and the
sea blue, the big ship, her canvas glittering in the sunlight glided
proudly up Channel.  Even the gruffest old seaman began to smile, and
every one seemed in good spirits.  At last a little one-masted vessel
came dancing over the small waves towards us, our sails were brailed up,
a boat put off from her, and a big man with huge whiskers, and rough
greatcoat, and broad-brimmed hat climbed up the side, and shook hands
with the captain; and I heard that the pilot had come on board, and that
we were sailing into the Downs.  I went below, and on returning on deck
I looked up and saw, instead of the broad sheets of white canvas which
had so long been spread, the long yards above my head with the sails
closely furled.  The ship was at anchor.  In a short time the boat came
alongside, and my mother and sister and I, with our attendants, were
lowered into her.  We rowed on shore, and went to a big house, where all
the people were wonderfully polite.  I asked if this was to be our
future home, but my mother told me it was an inn--very unlike the
resting-places we had stopped at on our journey from Quito.

The next day we were all seated inside a yellow carriage, with Domingos
and Maria on the outside, and rolling away over the smooth road at a
great rate.  We went on and on, changing horses every now and then,
through a country dotted about with houses which looked very large and
grand, and green trees which looked very small after those I had been
accustomed to see.  At length the houses became thicker and thicker, and
we were driving through long streets with numberless carriages dashing
here and there, and carts, and vans, and vehicles of all sorts; and my
mother told me we were in London.  We drove on, and I thought we should
soon be on the other side; but I found that we had not got nearly into
the centre of it.  I had thought Quito a large city, but this, I
guessed, must be ten times larger.  All the houses, too, looked
wonderfully high, and I thought if an earthquake were to occur, how
quickly they would all topple down.  I asked my mother how people could
venture to build such tall houses.  She laughed, and said that happily
in England there were no earthquakes; and that, in another city in the
north, there were houses ten stories high.

We stopped at last before a house in a long, dull-looking street, and a
gentleman came to the door and handed us all out, and kissed my mother
and Ellen and me, and welcomed us to England; and I found that he was
Uncle James, my mother's brother; and there was our aunt, his wife, and
a number of cousins, boys and girls; and we were all soon quite at home
and happy, though I did not exactly know what to do with myself.

A few days after that, Uncle James and my mother and I drove out in a
carriage, and there was a box on the top of it full of my clothes, and
several other things; and then I found that I was going to school.  I
was rather pleased than otherwise; not that I wished to leave my mother
and Ellen, but I wanted to know what sort of a place school was.  We
went some distance away from London, and stopped before a house with an
iron gate, and a huge stone lion on each side of it.  We got out, and
were shown into a drawing-room, and there we sat, till a tall gentleman
dressed in black, with a very white head, made his appearance, and my
mother and Uncle James talked to him for some time; then he called me
up, patted me on the head, and told me he hoped that I should be a good
boy, and learn my lessons well.  I did not feel quite comfortable when
my mother got up and kissed me again and again, and looked somewhat sad;
and then Uncle James wished me good-bye; and out they went, while the
tall gentleman kept me by the hand.

"Now, Harry Faithful," he said, "I will introduce you to your
school-fellows;" and he conducted me through a passage, at the end of
which was a door which opened out into a large open space covered with
gravel, with high walls on either side.  A big tree stood in the centre,
and a vast number of boys of all ages were running about.  Some had
hoops, others were jumping over long ropes, and others, with reins
fastened to their arms held by bigger boys, were scampering round and
round, playing at horses.  Some were leaping over each other's backs,
and others were hopping about with their arms folded charging at each
other.  I thought it very good fun, and hoped that was the way they were
always employed.

The tall gentleman, after waiting a minute or two, called out, "Antony
Nyass, come here.  Here is the son of an old friend of your father's.  I
expect you to look after him."

Then he turned round to me, and said, "When the bell rings, you will
come in with the rest, and we will lose no time in placing you."

"And so you are the new boy," said my companion.  "What is your name?"
I told him.  "Well, I am very glad you are come," he observed, "for I
want a chum.  We will have all sorts of fun together.  Will you have a
hoop?  I have got a prime one which beats all those of the fellows in my
class; or will you go shares in a pair of leather reins?"  I told him
that I should be very glad to do what he liked, and that I had plenty of
money, though I could not say how much, as I was not accustomed to
English coin, and could not remember what it was called.  "Oh, I will
soon put you up to that," he said, laughing; "but do not show it now.
We will see by-and-by what you can do with it."

While we were speaking, a number of other boys collected round us, and
began to ask me all sorts of questions--who I was, who my friends were,
where I had come from, how old I was, and if I had ever been to another
school.

"Do not tell them," whispered Nyass.

"What is that you are saying, Master Tony!" exclaimed one of the boys.
"You are putting him up to some of your own tricks."

"I will tell you all by-and-by," I answered, taking my new friend's
hint.

"Can you run?" asked Tony.  "Tell them that you will race any one of
them," he whispered.

"I do not know, but I will try," I replied.

"Who is for a race?" exclaimed Tony.  "He will run you down to the
bottom of the play-ground and back again, and if he does not beat all
the fellows of his own size I shall be surprised."

I was light and active, and though I had never before run a race, having
no companions to run with, I did my best to follow out Tony's
suggestion.  At the word, off I set as hard as I could tear; five or six
other fellows besides Tony ran also.  He kept up with me, though we
distanced the rest.  He touched the wall at the bottom, and I followed
his example.

"Now, back again as hard as you can go!  I am the best runner of my size
in the school," he cried out, as he kept close to me; "if you beat me,
your fame is established, and the fellows will treat you with respect
after that."

I felt, however, very doubtful whether I could beat Tony; but I did my
best, and as we neared the point we started from I found myself drawing
ahead of him.  "That is it!" he shouted; "keep on, and you will do it."
I suspected that he was letting me get ahead of him on purpose, and I
reached the starting-point four or five paces before him.  I felt,
however, that I could not have run another minute if my life had
depended on it; while he came in without the slightest panting.  The
other fellows followed mostly together, a short distance behind.

It is curious how slight a thing gives a boy a position at once in a
school.  Thanks to Tony, I gained one at once, and ever afterwards kept
it.  I do not intend to give an account of my school-life and
adventures, as I have more interesting matter to describe.  I was placed
in the lowest class, as might have been expected.  Although I knew
nothing of Latin, I was up to several things which my class-mates were
not, and as I did my best to learn, I soon caught up a number of them.
My friend Tony was in the class above me, and he was always ready to
give me any help.  Though not quarrelsome, I had several battles to
fight, and got into scrapes now and then, but not often, and altogether
I believed I was getting on pretty well.  Tony, my first acquaintance,
remained my firm friend.  Although now and then we had quarrels, we
quickly made them up again.  He used to listen with eager ears to the
accounts I gave him of my voyage, and the wonders of my native land.  He
never laughed at my foreign accent, though the other boys did; but I
very soon got rid of it.  I used to try to teach him Spanish, and the
Indian language, which I had learned from the servants; but I soon
forgot them myself, and had difficulty even in recalling a few words of
the tongue which I once spoke with ease.

"I say, Harry, I should so like to go out with you to that country,"
said Tony to me one day.  "When you go back I must try and get my father
to let me accompany you."

I, of course, was well pleased at the proposal, and we talked for days
together of what we should do when we got out there.  At last we began
to think that it was very hard we should have to wait till we had grown
big fellows like those at the head of the school, and Tony proposed that
we should start away by ourselves.  We looked at the map, and considered
how we could best accomplish our object.  We observed the mighty river
Amazon rising at no great distance--so it seemed on paper--from Quito
itself, and running right across the continent into the Atlantic.

"Will it not be fun paddling up by ourselves in a canoe!" exclaimed
Tony.  "We will have guns to go on shore and shoot birds and beasts; and
when we grow tired of paddling we will sail along before the wind; and
we will have a tent, and sleep in it at night, and light a fire in front
of it to cook our suppers and keep off the wild beasts; and then, when
we arrive at the upper end of the river, we will sell our canoe to the
Indians, and trudge away on foot with knapsacks on our backs up the
mountains, till we reach your father's house; and will not he be
astonished to see us!"

I agreed with him in his last idea certainly, but I was puzzled to think
how we were to reach the mouth of the Amazon, and when we were there how
we were to procure canoe.  All the rest appeared pretty easy in the way
Tony proposed it, and, after all, even on a big map, the river did not
look so very long.

"Well, my idea is," said Tony, "that we should save up all our
pocket-money, and then, some day when we have got very hard lessons to
do, or anything disagreeable takes place, run off, and get aboard a ship
sailing to South America.  I should not mind being cabin-boy for a short
time; and as you know Spanish and Indian, you could tell the captain you
would interpret for him, and of course he would be very glad to have
you; and then, you know, we should soon learn to be sailors; and it will
be much pleasanter climbing about the rigging and up the masts and along
the yards than sitting at our desks all day bothering our heads with
Caesar and Ovid and sums and history and geography, and all that sort of
thing."

"But I have not got Caesar and Ovid to do yet," I observed; "and I want
to have a little more schooling; for Uncle James says I shall not be fit
for anything until I do.  Do not you think we had better wait till I get
into your class, or rather higher still?"

Tony said he was much disappointed at my drawing back, which he argued I
was doing when I made these remarks.  However, I spoke in perfect
sincerity, and fully believed that I should enjoy the adventure he
proposed just as much as he would.  I had my doubts, however, whether we
should receive so favourable a reception at the end of our journey as he
supposed.  However, he continued talking and talking about the matter,
till I agreed to consider what could be done during another half.

I spent my first holidays in London at Uncle James's, and my brother
John came there, and I was surprised to find what a big fellow he was.
We were very good friends, and he took me out to see a number of the
sights of London.  We went, among other places, to Exeter Change, where
there were all sorts of wild beasts.  I had no idea until then that
there were so many in the world.  I was highly interested, and learned
the names of nearly all of them; and John told me where they had come
from, and all about their habits.  Then Uncle James gave me a book of
natural history, which I read with great delight.  I found by the book
that the beasts I had seen at Exeter Change were only a very small
number of those which exist in different parts of the world.  I liked
that book of natural history better than any I had ever read; except,
perhaps, "Robinson Crusoe," which Tony had lent me, and which he said
was the best book that ever was written.  I thus gained a very
considerable knowledge of the quadrupeds and the feathered tribes of the
animal kingdom, and Uncle James said he thought some day I should become
a first-rate naturalist, if I had opportunities of studying the
creatures in their native wild.  I resolved the next summer holidays,
which were to be spent in the country, to catch as many of the creatures
as I could, and form a menagerie of my own.  I should say I had not told
John of the plan Tony and I had in contemplation--of exploring the
Amazon by ourselves.  I thought, from some of his remarks, that he
possibly might not approve of it.

I soon got tired of London, after I had seen the usual sights, though I
was glad to be with my mother and Ellen and my cousins.  John also was
very kind, but he was such a big fellow that I stood in as much awe of
him as I did of my uncle.  I was not sorry, therefore, to find myself at
school with companions of my own age.  As the weather was very cold,
Tony and I agreed that we would put off our expedition till the summer,
and in the meantime we talked of the menagerie I proposed making, and
other subjects of equal importance, which prevented us thinking about
the former matter.

I had a good many friends among my school-fellows.  Arthur Mallet, next
to Tony, was my chief friend.  He was by several months my junior--a
delicate, gentle boy, amiable, sensible, and clever.  He was liked by
the masters as well as by the boys, and that is saying much in his
favour.  Poor fellow, notwithstanding this he was frequently out of
spirits.  I asked him one day why he looked so sad.  He was silent for
some minutes.  "I will tell you, Harry," he said at length.  "I am
thinking of my mother.  She is dying.  I know it, for she told me so.
She never deceived me.  When she has gone I shall have no one to care
for me--and--and--Harry, I shall have to depend on the charity of
strangers for support.  She urged me to work hard, that I might be
independent; but it will be a long time before I can become so.  For
myself I do not so much mind, but it troubles my mother greatly; and
then to have her die--though I know she is going to heaven--I cannot
bear the thought."  He said more in the same style.  "And then, should
my father come back--oh, what will he do!" he added.

"I thought from what you said that you had no father," I remarked.
"Where is he then, Arthur?"

"That is what I do not know," he answered.  "Do not speak about it to
any one, Harry.  He went away a long time ago, on account of something
that had happened.  He could not bear to stay in England.  But he was
not to blame.  That is all I know.  He could not take her with him; and
my grandmother and aunts with whom she was left died, and their fortune
was lost; and what she has now got is only for her life, and that
troubles her also greatly."

I tried as well as I could to comfort Arthur, and after this felt more
than ever anxious to stand by him an a friend.  "I may some day be able
to help him," I thought--but I did not tell him so.  Our friendship had
been disinterested, and thus I wished it to remain.

I said that I had many friends at school, but there were some few whom I
looked upon in a contrary light; especially one big boy, Houlston, of
whom all the little ones were dreadfully afraid.  He used to make us do
anything that seized his fancy, and if we ventured to refuse, often
thrashed us.  Poor Arthur Mallet frequently came in for his
ill-treatment, and bore it, we all thought, with far too much patience.
At last Tony and I and a few other fellows agreed that we would stand it
no longer.  One day Houlston and one of the upper form boys, who was
younger than himself, had a dispute.  We thought that he was going to
thrash the other fellow; but the latter standing up in his own defence,
Houlston walked off, not venturing, as we supposed, to encounter him.
This, of course, gave us courage.  A few day afterwards Tony was
reading, when Houlston, coming by, seized his book, saying he wanted it.
Tony watched his opportunity, and snatching it up, made off out of the
school-room, through the play-ground into a yard on one side, which, not
being overlooked by any of the windows from the house, was the usual
place for pugilistic encounters.  Houlston followed.  I saw Arthur
Mallet and several of those who had promised to side with us standing
near.  Arthur joined us, though somewhat unwillingly.  We made chase.
Tony, who had fled to the yard, was at length overtaken by his pursuer,
who began hitting him over the head and shoulders.  I signed to my
companions, and making a spring, jumped on Houlston's back and began
belabouring him with might and main.  I shouted to the others to come on
and attack him on either side.  He was furious, and struck out right and
left at them; but I, clinging pertinaciously to his back, prevented his
blows having due effect.  My companions on this closed in, and two of
them seizing him by the legs, down he came, with me still clinging to
his back.  The rest now threw themselves upon him.  Handkerchiefs were
brought out, and in spite of his struggles they managed to tie his arms
behind him, while I kept him down.  Though he kicked out furiously, by
jumping on his body we succeeded in securing his legs, and we thus had
him in our power.  It was in the evening of a half-holiday.  On one side
of the yard was a wood-shed.  Into this we dragged him.  Astonishment
and the efforts he made to free himself had prevented him from shouting
for help.  Before he had uttered a cry, Rawlings, one of the biggest of
our party, running up, shoved a handkerchief into his mouth, which
completely gagged him.  We then all ran away, leaving him without
compunction in the dark and cold.  Assembling again in the school-room,
we agreed to leave him till somebody coming by might release him.
Tea-time came, and Houlston did not make his appearance.  I began to
grow anxious, and communicated my fears to Arthur, who sat next to me.
Still he did not come.  Tea was over.  At last Arthur entreated that we
would go and ascertain what was the matter.  It was now quite dark.  I
remember quite well the uncomfortable feeling I had, as, stealing out,
we groped our way in the dark to the yard.  On approaching the
wood-house we heard a groan.  Could it proceed from Houlston?  My heart
beat more tranquilly, though, for the groan showed that he was alive.
We crept in.  He was where we had left him; but his hands were icy cold.
I bethought me first of withdrawing the handkerchief from his mouth.
Some of the fellows proposed leaving him again.

"Oh no, no; pray don't do that!" exclaimed Arthur.  "Perhaps he will
promise to give up bullying if we agree to cast him loose."

"You hear that, Houlston?" said Tony.  "Will you become a good fellow
and treat the little chaps properly, or will you spend the night out
here?"

Houlston only grumbled out some words which we could not understand.  At
last we heard him say, "What is it you want?"  It was evident from his
tone that he was greatly humbled.  That is not surprising, for he must
have been very cold and very hungry, and Tony repeated the question.

"He will not promise.  We must put the gag in again," said two or three
of the other fellows.

"Will you promise?" asked Tony again.

"Oh, do let him go!" again exclaimed Arthur, whose kind heart was moved
by the pitiable condition of our captive.  "He will promise--I know he
will; and I do not mind if he bullies me ever so much.  We should think
any one very cruel who kept us out in the cold as we have kept him.  I
am sure that he will promise what we ask--won't you, Houlston?"

"No, he will not," said another boy.  "He will have a couple of hours to
wait till the names are called over, and perhaps somebody will then come
and look for him.  He will be much colder by that time."

"Oh yes, I will promise!" cried Houlston.  "Let me go, and I will not
bully you little fellows any more.  Just try me.  And I will remember
what Mallet said--he has more feeling than any of you; I did not expect
him to have spoken as he has, for I treated him always worse than any of
you."

"You promise, on your word of honour," said Tony; "and you will not go
and complain of us?  You must promise that too."

Houlston was completely humbled.  He promised all we demanded.

"We may trust to his word.  I am sure we may!" exclaimed Arthur.  "Oh,
do let us loose him!"

"Thank you, Mallet.  Thank you, Faithful.  I am much obliged to you,"
whispered Houlston, as Arthur undid the handkerchief which bound his
wrists.  The others were in the meantime casting off those round his
legs.  We lifted him up, for he was so numbed and chilled that he could
not walk.  Arthur had brought a slice of bread and butter doubled up in
his pocket.  He offered it to Houlston, who took it gratefully.  His
clothes, I felt, were covered with chips of wood and dust.  We brushed
him with our hands as well as we could in the dark, and then led him
back into the playroom, where the boys were collecting after tea.  I
watched him narrowly, fearing mat he might tell some of the big fellows
what had happened; but he went to his box without speaking to any one,
and then taking up his books, proceeded to the school-room to learn his
lessons for the next day.  We kept our counsel, and were convinced that
Houlston wisely kept his, for not a word did he utter to any of his
companions of what had occurred.  From that day forward he was generally
kind and good-natured, and especially so to Arthur Mallet.  He helped
him in his lessons, and was constantly making him presents of such
things as boys prize, though older people may not set much value on
them.  Though he might lose his temper with others, he never did so with
Arthur, and always seemed anxious to show his friendly feeling in a
variety of ways.  I have seldom seen a fellow so greatly changed for the
better as Houlston became, owing, I believe, greatly to the way Arthur
had pleaded his cause when the rest of us seemed inclined to revenge
ourselves still further than we had already done.

I should not have mentioned the circumstance, except for the sake of the
moral it taught me.  There is an old saying, that when a bull runs at
you the best way of escaping him is to seize him by the horns; and from
the manner we overcame Houlston, I am convinced of the wisdom of the
advice.  Ever since, when a difficulty has occurred, I have seized it
boldly, grappled with it as we grappled with Houlston, summoned up all
my courage, resolution, and strength, just as Tony and I called our
companions to our assistance, and dragged it, metaphorically speaking,
to the ground, gagged it as we gagged the bully, and not let it loose
again till I have been convinced that it would no longer trouble me.
Again, when I have had any difficult thing to do, I have done it at
once, or tried my best to do it.  I have never put off a disagreeable
thing which I may have had to do till another day.  I have got it over
as soon as possible, whatever it may have been.  I have generally found
that the anticipation is worse than the reality.  I cannot understand
what made Houlston take to bullying; and I must say after this he showed
much good feeling, and became a firm friend both to Tony and me, not
appearing to harbour any ill-feeling for the way we had treated him.

I must hurry over my school-boy days.  I was not able to carry out my
plan of the menagerie the next summer.  My uncle, instead of going to
his country house, took us all to the sea-side.  I, however, on that
occasion picked up a good deal of knowledge about vessels and boats, and
fish, and marine animals; and instead of a menagerie we had an aquarium,
into which we used to put the small fish and other creatures we caught
in the pools on the rocks.  I was making an important step in the study
of natural history--gaining the custom of observing the habits of
creatures.  The following year I carried out my long-intended plan,
having induced one of my cousins to join me in it.  We made several
cages and boxes; and among our captives we numbered a couple of rabbits,
a weasel, hedgehog, ferret, and stoat, with a number of pigeons and
other birds, and, I may add, three or four snakes.  We caught a viper--
or, as it is frequently called, an adder--the only venomous creature
which exist in England; but my uncle objected to our keeping it alive,
though he consented to its being turned into a bottle of spirits.  We
killed another, and cut off its head to observe its poisonous fangs.  On
dissecting the head, we found that the fangs exist on either side of the
upper jaw, in which they lie down flat towards the throat.  They are on
hinges, the roots connected with little bags of poison.  When the
creature is irritated and about to bite, these fangs rise up.  They are
hollow, with small orifices at their points.  When biting, the roots of
the fangs are pressed against the bags of poison, which thus exudes
through the orifices and enters the wound they make.  All venomous
serpents are provided with fangs, but in the jaws of some species the
fangs, instead of lying down, are always erect, ready for action.  The
nature of the poison varies in different species.  The poison of some
produces paralysis; that of others causes the body when bitten to swell
and become putrid.  The venom of some is so powerful that it rapidly
courses through the veins and destroys life in a few minutes; that of
others makes much slower progress.  The English viper, or adder, has but
a small quantity of poison in its bag, and its bite rarely produces
death.  Some of the smallest snakes, in tropical climes, are the most
venomous.  However, I shall by-and-by have a good deal to say on the
subject.

From what I have mentioned, it will be understood that I had already got
a taste for and some insight into natural history, and when I returned
to school I was able to discourse very learnedly on the subject.  This
made Tony more anxious to carry out our long-projected undertaking.
Still, as we were very well treated at school, we had no excuse for
running away, and put it off from day to day.  At length, in truth, we
began to grow wiser, and look at it in a different light.  Tony, indeed,
one day confided his plan to Houlston.

"Well, when you make up your mind to go, just tell me," said Houlston.

"What I would you go with us?" exclaimed Tony.  "That would be capital.
With a big fellow like you we should be able to make our way anywhere."

"Not exactly that," was the answer.  "I'll tell you what I should do,
Nyass.  As soon as I found that you had started, I should make chase
after you and bring you back.  Depend upon it, it would be the best mark
of friendship I could show you!  Time enough by-and-by--when you have
gone through school and been at college, and got a little more knowledge
than you now possess in your heads--to start on such an expedition.  I
have a great notion that I should like to do something of the sort
myself; so, if you ever start on an expedition to South America or any
other part of the world, find me out if you can, and let me know, and
then perhaps I shall be ready to accompany you."

These sensible remarks of Houlston put Tony completely off his purpose,
and we finally agreed to follow the advice of our school-fellow, and
wait patiently till we had finished our studies.

In the meantime I should say that my mother had rejoined my father at
Quito.  When I first came to England I thought that the time when I
should leave school was a very long way off.  It seemed like a dream
when I found myself at last a big fellow of sixteen at the commencement
of the summer holidays.  There was Ellen, almost a grown-up young lady--
in my eyes, at all events--and John, who had been in Uncle James's
counting-house in London, a man with big whiskers.

"Well, Harry," said Uncle James, "would you like to go back to school,
or accompany John and Ellen to South America?  Your father wishes to
have John's assistance, and perhaps you also can make yourself useful."

Although by this time I found school a far pleasanter place than when I
was a little boy, yet, as may be supposed, I did not take long to
decide.

"I will accompany John," I said without hesitation.

"We shall have to part with you soon, then, I am sorry to say," observed
my uncle; "for Captain Byles, who still commands the _Inca_, is about to
sail for Guayaquil.  In consequence of the emancipation of the Spanish
South American provinces from the iron yoke of the mother country, their
ports are now free, and ships of all nations can trade to them, which
was not the case when you came home.  Captain Byles has twice before
been to the Pacific, and we have resolved to send the _Inca_ there
again.  He will be very glad to have you as passenger.  You must lose no
time, therefore, in getting ready."

I replied very honestly that I was sorry to leave him and aunt and
cousins; but, at the same time, I could not help feeling delighted at
the thought of again seeing my father and mother and Fanny, and
revisiting the magnificent scenes which had made so deep an impression
upon my mind, besides being able to indulge on a large scale in the
study of the natural history of that wonderful region.  I did not forget
my friends, Tony and Arthur Mallet, and as soon as I had time I sat down
and wrote to them both.  At the end of a week I received the following
reply from Tony:--

"Dear Harry,--Your letter threw me into a state of wild commotion.  You
to be actually starting for the country we have so often talked about,
while, as far as I could see, I was destined to stick quietly at a desk
in my father's counting-house.  After thinking the matter over, however,
and recollecting how kind and considerate he has always been, I
determined to show him your letter, and tell him frankly of my
long-cherished wish to go abroad.  He talked to me a good deal to
ascertain whether I was in earnest.  `I did not wish to send you from
me,' he said at last; `but I will now tell you that a few months ago I
received a letter from a cousin of mine who has lately established a
house of business at Para in Brazil, requesting me to send out two
steady lads as clerks, adding that he should be very glad to receive a
son of mine if I could spare him.'  I jumped at the idea; for though I
should have liked to have gone out with you, Harry, yet, as I have no
means of doing that, I am delighted to go to Para, because, as it is at
the mouth of the Amazon, it is the very place of all others I should
have chosen.  It is where we proposed going to when we used to talk of
our expedition up the mighty river, and perhaps, after all, we may be
able somehow or other to realise those wild fancies of our early days.
To be sure, when I come to measure off the distance on the map, which we
did not then think of doing, I find that Quito and Para are a tremendous
long way apart.  Still, perhaps some day or other we may be able to
accomplish a meeting.  At all events, I told my father that I was
willing to accept our cousin's offer, and at the same time I put in a
word for Houlston, from whom I had heard a few days before, telling me
that he was looking about for something to do, and ready to do anything
or go anywhere.  He has no parents, or brothers or sisters, or any tie
to keep him in England.  I showed his letter to my father, and told him
that he was a big, strong fellow, and that though I did not much like
him when I was a little fellow, he was greatly improved.  My father on
this said he would send for him, and should he possess the necessary
qualifications, he should be very glad to recommend him for the
appointment.  Houlston came, and as he writes well, and is a good hand
at arithmetic, and has a fair amount of knowledge on other matters, my
father told me that he would recommend him for the appointment.  The
long and short of the matter is, that Houlston and I are to go up to
London with my father in a few days, to get our outfits, and to secure a
passage by the first vessel sailing for Para or the nearest port to it
in Brazil.  We shall meet, Harry, and we will then talk matters over,
and, I hope, strike out some plan by which we may be able to carry out
our early designs, although perhaps not in the same way we formerly
proposed.  Houlston sends his kind regards to you, and says he shall be
very happy to meet you again _Adeos, meu amigo_--that is, Good-bye, my
friend.  I have lost no time in beginning to learn Portuguese, which is
the language the Brazilians speak, and I intend to work hard at it on
the voyage, so as to be able to talk away in a fashion when I land.--
Your sincere old friend, Antony Nyass."

I was very glad to get this letter, but was much disappointed at not
hearing from Arthur.  Another day's post, however, brought me a letter
from him.  I should have said that he had left school three months
before, and that I had not since heard from him.  His letter was a very
sad one.  I gathered from it that what he had dreaded had come to pass.
His mother was dead, and he was left almost destitute, though he tried
to hide from me as much as possible the fact of his poverty.

I at once made up my mind what to do.  I took the letter to my uncle,
told him all about Arthur, and entreated that he might be sent out with
us in the _Inca_.  "I will answer for it that he will amply repay all
the kindness he may receive," I added.  Uncle James said that he would
consider the matter, and in the course of the day told me, to my great
satisfaction, that I might write to Mallet and invite him to come up to
town.  Arthur lost no time in obeying the summons.  My uncle was much
pleased with him, and Arthur gratefully accepted the proposal that he
should accompany us to Quito.

Two days afterwards Tony and Houlston arrived in London.  A ship for
Para was on the point of sailing.  They had therefore to hurry on their
preparations.  They spent the evening with us at my uncle's, and John
told me that he liked Houlston very well, and hoped some day to see him
again.  Tony he thought a capital fellow--so enthusiastic and
warm-hearted, yet not wanting in sense; but Arthur, as I knew he would,
he liked better than either.  Tony brought with him a beautiful black
cocker spaniel.  "Here, Harry, I want you to accept this fellow as a
keepsake from me," he said, leading the dog up to me.  "Pat him on the
head, call him True, and tell him you are going to be his master, and he
will understand you.  He can do everything but talk; but though he does
not often give tongue, he is as brave as a lion."

I warmly thanked Tony for his gift as I patted True, who jumped up and
licked my hand.  "But you want a dog for yourself.  I scarcely like to
take him from you," I said.

"Set your mind at rest; I have his brother--whom I left at our
lodgings--his equal in most respects, if not quite so great a beauty,"
he answered.  "You will excuse me, I know.  I have called my dog
`Faithful,' after you.  As I cannot have you with me, I wanted something
to remind me of you; and faithful I am sure he will prove to me, as
yours will prove true to you."

I thanked Tony for his kind feeling for me, and assured him that I
considered it a compliment that he had called his dog after me.

True was indeed a beauty--a Welsh cocker--somewhat larger than usual
perhaps.  He came up in his moral qualities to all Tony had said about
him.  He took to me at once, and a true friend he ever proved.  We
accompanied our friends aboard their ship, which was a Portuguese,
called the _Vasco da Gama_.  She was a fine large vessel.  The crew were
small and swarthy, but active-looking fellows, most of them wearing long
red caps on their heads, and blue or pink-striped shirts, with knives
stuck in their girdles.  They jabbered and shouted tremendously as they
got under weigh.  Tony and Houlston stood on the poop bidding us
farewell.  "We shall meet, Harry! we shall meet!"  Tony cried out.
"Good-bye, Harry; good-bye, Arthur; good-bye, old fellows!"

"Perhaps we shall overtake you on the voyage!" shouted John.

"Not much fear of that," answered Houlston.

We were soon too far off to exchange further words, though we could hear
the voices of the crew even when we had got to a considerable distance
from the ship.



CHAPTER TWO.

OUTWARD BOUND.

Nearly a week after this we were on board the _Inca_, silently gliding
down the Thames, the only voices heard on board being that of the pilot
or the officers who repeated his orders.  We had a quick run down
Channel, and Captain Byles said he should not be surprised if, after
all, we should reach the Equator before the Portuguese ship.  I found
that several of the crew had been on board when I came to England, Sam
the black cook among the number.  He was the only one, however, who
remembered Ellen and me.  I inquired after my old friend the goat.

"What! you remember her, Massa Harry!" exclaimed Sam.  "Dat good.  Goat
gone to live on shore; eat fresh grass instead of hay!"

He was well pleased to find that I had remembered the dumb animal, and
still more so that I had not forgotten him.  Sam told me that he had
become a Christian since I had seen him.  I told him I thought that he
was so then.

"Berry different, Massa Harry, between what is called Christian and real
Christian.  One night I was on shore, and not knowing where I go, I turn
into small chapel where a man talk to de people, and I heard him say,
`God lubs you!'  He lubs bad man and bad woman, and black man, and brown
man, and white man all de same.  Him pure, holy God, and no bad, impure,
unholy person dwell wid him; and all men ever born unholy, impure, and
so dey must all be punished.  But he say he let One be punished for de
oders, and so him sent his Son into de world to suffer for dem, and dat
ebery one who trust dat Son, and lub him, go free, and come and live wid
him for ever and ever.  You ask how dat is.  Hear God's words: `God so
loved de world dat he gave his only-begotten Son, dat whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'  Oh, he is a
kind, good, merciful God!  Him hear de prayers of all who come unto him.
Him no want any one to say prayers for dem; but dey may come boldly
t'rough Jesus Christ, and he hear black man pray, and brown man pray,
and leetle child pray, just as well as learned white man; and so when I
hear dis I say, `Dat just de God for me;' and so I go to de minister--
dat is de man who was preaching--and he tell me a great deal more; and I
go ebery day I was ashore, and now I bery happy, because I know dat when
I die dere is One who has taken my sins upon himself, who was punished
instead of me who paid de great debt I owed to God."

I have tried to give Sam's remarks as nearly as I can in his words.
They made a great impression on me; for before I must own that I did not
understand God's simple plan of salvation.  Sam had a Bible, which he
was constantly reading, and delighted to explain to the crew.  He had
gained considerable influence with them, and though many were careless,
and did not listen to him, all treated him with respect.  Captain Byles
spoke in very high terms of Sam, who had, I found, been the means of
bringing home the truth to him.  He had prayers every day, when the
weather permitted, in his cabin, and a service on the Sunday for the
whale of the crew, while I never heard a harsh or wrong expression
escape his lips.

"You t'ink, Massa Harry, perhaps, I go into dat chapel by chance,"
observed Sam to me one day; "now I t'ink dere is no such t'ing as
chance.  God orders everyt'ing.  He sees us all day and all night long,
and orders all for de best."

I agreed with Sam, and I may say that I never forgot the lessons I
received from him.  I found great pleasure in listening to him while he
read the Bible and explained it in his own somewhat curious way, as far
as language was concerned.  I had before been accustomed to read the
Bible as a task, but I now took to reading it with satisfaction and
profit.  From others of the crew I learned a good deal of seamanship,
especially how to knot and splice,--an art which I found afterwards very
useful.

We had been several weeks from England, and had thus far carried the
fine weather with us, when clouds appeared in the horizon which soon
began to rush in dense masses over the sky.  The sea, hitherto so calm,
tossed and foamed, and the wind howled and shrieked through the rigging.
I asked the captain if he thought we were going to have a severe gale.

"It looks very like it," he answered, "but we must do our best and trust
in God.  Once I used to think that while I was doing my best, God was
fighting against me, but now, Harry, I see it the other way.  It is a
great thing to feel that the All-Powerful who rules the world is with
us.  It makes a man far happier and more courageous."

The crew had gone aloft to furl the sails, and the ship was soon under
her three closely-reefed topsails.  Still the wind increased, and the
seas rose up on either side as if they would overwhelm her.  The night
was coming on.  The captain held a consultation with his mates.  The
first mate and one of the best hands went to the helm.  The main and
mizzen-topsails were furled, the helm was put up, and the ship was kept
away before the wind.  The huge seas followed close astern, roaring and
hissing after us.  Arthur and I had remained on deck.

"I must beg you to go below," said the captain; "for if one of these
seas was to break on board, you might be swept off, and no one could
save you."  Still, I was very unwilling to obey.  John, however, coming
on deck, saw the danger we were in, and pulled us down the hatchway.  We
found Ellen in the cabin kneeling at the table with Maria at her side.
She had the Bible open, though it was a difficult matter to read by the
flickering light of the lamp, which swung backwards and forwards.
Still, every now and then, by keeping her finger on a verse, she was
able to catch a few words; while Maria, with her large eyes wide open
fixed on her young mistress, was listening eagerly to what she said.  So
engaged were they, that neither of them observed our entrance.  Now
Ellen stopped, and I heard her lifting up her voice in prayer for the
safety of the ship and all on board.  John and I, making our way to the
other side of the table, knelt down likewise.  Though she saw us she did
not stop.  We remained thus for some time, when a shout from the deck
reached us.  I could not help rushing up again.  John followed me.
During the few minutes we had been below the darkness had increased, but
at that instant a vivid flash of lightning bursting from the sky, showed
a large ship ahead of us.  We were running on towards her.  Again all
was darkness, and I expected to hear the fearful crash of the two ships
meeting.  Again another flash, followed by a fearful peal of thunder,
lighted up the atmosphere.  The ship was no longer there, but an object
floating on the foaming waves.  It was a boat full of people.  It seemed
impossible that she could live many moments in so fearful a sea.
Presently I saw our crew running with ropes to the side.  Already the
stern of the boat was sinking beneath the waves.  There was a thundering
sound, as if a big gun had been fired.  Our foresail had burst from the
bolt-ropes.  We rushed on close to the boat.  John, Arthur, and I sprang
to the side.  Several persons were clinging to the ropes which had been
thrown over to them.  We assisted in hauling them up.  A sea struck us
at that moment, and two were washed away.  Three others clung on, and
were partly hauled and partly washed on board; while a dog which was
swimming near them was lifted up by a wave and let directly down on the
deck.  We and they had to cling to the bulwarks to save ourselves from
being carried off to leeward.  One of our men, who had let go his hold
while assisting the strangers, was carried off by the rush of water
across the deck, and before any one could help him, he was seen
struggling amid the foaming billows astern.  On flew the _Inca_ over the
spot where the ship had just before been seen.  We managed to drag the
strangers to the companion hatch, and, with the assistance of Sam,
carried them below, followed by the dog which had been so curiously
saved with them.  True, when he entered the cabin, instead of barking,
ran up to him wagging his tail and showing every sign of pleasure.  I
observed how like the two animals were to each other.  The mystery was
soon solved.  The officers and crew remained on deck to bend another
sail.  As the light of the lamp fell on the features of the first person
we got into the cabin, what was my astonishment to recognise my old
friend Tony Nyass.  His surprise at seeing me was equally great.

"Is Houlston saved?" were the first words he uttered.  "He was close to
me!"

"Yes, all right!" exclaimed a young man, who, helped by Sam, tottered
into the cabin.  It was Houlston himself, though I should not have known
him, so pale and scared did he look.  The third was one of the mates of
the Portuguese ship.

"And Faithful, too," cried Tony, kneeling down and embracing his dog.
"My old fellow, I am indeed very glad you have escaped."  Faithful
seemed as well pleased as his master; and True knew him at once, and
welcomed him by leaping up to lick his face, though as he did so the
ship gave a tremendous roll, and over he tumbled to the other side of
the cabin.

I need not say how thankful we were that the lives of our old
school-fellows had been preserved.  They were shivering with cold, so,
taking them into our cabin, we got off their wet clothes and put them to
bed.  Tony then told me that after the commencement of the gale, the
ship had sprung a leak, and that though the crew had behaved very well,
and stood manfully to the pumps, the water could not be got under.  When
it was found that the ship must go down, the boats were prepared.  He
and Houlston, with the second mate and several of the crew, had got into
one of them, and shoved clear of the ship just as she sank; but the
other, he was afraid, had been immediately overwhelmed; indeed, it
seemed scarcely possible that any boat could have lived many minutes in
the heavy sea then running.  It was wonderful that the boat he was in
had remained long enough afloat to allow our ship to get near her.

During the whole of that night the hurricane blew as hard as ever, we
continuing to run before it.  Every moment I expected to hear that the
ship had sprung a leak, and that we should have to share the fate of the
unfortunate _Vasco da Gama_.  We were dreadfully knocked about.  Our
bulwarks were stove in, and two of our boats carried away.  We lost our
topmasts, and received other damage; but the stout old ship still
battled bravely with the seas.  As the morning broke the wind began to
abate.  By noon the sun was shining brightly, and the sea had gone much
down.

"Perhaps, after all," observed Tony, "we shall go round the Cape with
you to Quito, and then have to find our way down the Amazon to Para, as
I suppose that will then be the shortest road there."

"I am afraid, young gentleman, you would find that a very long road,"
observed Captain Byles.  "As the ship requires repairs, I must run into
Rio de Janeiro, and from thence you will more easily get to Para, though
I should have been very happy to have had your company round Cape Horn."

Tony was much disappointed on hearing this.  We had still a long run
before us, and the prospect of Tony and Houlston's company on board for
many days.  The Portuguese mate, Mr Lima, had friends at Para, and he
undertook to assist Houlston and Tony in getting there.  He was a very
well-mannered, amiable man, and as he spoke a little English, we were
able to converse together.  He gave me much information regarding the
Brazils, which is by far the largest country in South America.  Although
a very small portion only is cultivated, it is also the richest both in
vegetable and mineral wealth.  He told me of its magnificent forests,
its plantations of coffee and tobacco, and certain of its valleys, in
some of which gold in abundance is found, and in others diamonds of
extraordinary value.

"What do you say, Harry--shall we go and hunt for them?" exclaimed Tony
when he heard this.

Mr Lima laughed.  "The Government are too wide-awake to allow you to do
that," he observed.  "No one is allowed to go into that part of the
country except those employed in collecting the diamonds; but I will
tell you one thing, it is the poorest part of the Brazils.  If the same
number of people who are engaged in collecting the diamonds were
employed in cultivating the waste ground, the country would, I believe,
be far richer.  However, perhaps my friends here may obtain permission
to visit the mines, and if so, I dare say they will some day give you an
account of them."

Of course Tony said he would do so.  If he was fortunate enough to get
there.

When the weather grew fine we passed our time very pleasantly, for we
had a number of interesting books, especially of natural history, in
which we old school-fellows fortunately took great delight.  Houlston
and Tony had agreed to make collections of objects of natural history
when they were settled at Para, and as they had lost all their own
books, I gave them some of mine, as there was little prospect of their
getting any at Rio de Janeiro--so the captain told us.  At length one
morning, just at sunrise, when I went on deck to enjoy the cool air, I
heard the shout of "Land!" and looking out, I saw a line of blue
mountains rising out of the water.  The breeze carried us quickly
towards them, and in a short time we could distinguish a lofty height,
shaped like a sugar-loaf, which stands at the south side of the entrance
into the harbour of Rio.  A little to the left rose three peaks, which
Mr Lima, the Portuguese mate, called the _Tres Irmaos_, or the "Three
Brothers," with the lofty peak of Corcovado a little further south.  On
the right of the entrance we could distinguish the white walls of the
fortress of Santa Cruz, which commands it, with another range of
mountains rising above it, and terminating in a bold, lofty promontory,
known as Cape Frio, while far beyond towered up the blue outline of the
distant Organ Mountains.  We sailed on, passing between the lofty
heights I have described, being hailed, as we glided under the frowning
guns of Santa Cruz, by a stentorian voice, with various questions as to
who we were, whence we came, our object in entering the port, to all of
which Captain Byles replied through his speaking-trumpet.  It would be
difficult to describe the beautiful scene in which we now found
ourselves,--curious-shaped canoes and boats of all rigs, manned by
half-naked blacks, sailing about, and a number of vessels at anchor in
the vast harbour; numerous white forts, backed by picturesque hills
rising above them, covered with the richest verdure, and villages
peeping forth here and there in beautiful little bays; while higher up
the bay the vast city appeared, extending for miles along its irregular
shore, and running back almost to the foot of the Tijuca Mountains, with
hills and heights in every direction.  In the midst of this scene we
dropped our anchor under the frowning fortress of Villegagnon, the first
castle erected by Europeans in that region.

I cannot hope to convey by words a correct idea of the beauty of the
scenery or the magnificence of the harbour.  All visitors agree that it
is one of the finest in the world.  We went on shore, and were very
kindly received by an English merchant--the correspondent of the house
to which the _Inca_ belonged.  John and I were anxious to help Tony and
Houlston as far as we had the power, but our new friend undertook to
supply their wants, and to enable them to reach Para by the first vessel
sailing for that port.

I will not attempt to describe Rio fully.  It is a large city, with
heights rising about in various parts, covered with buildings.  Most of
the streets are very narrow, the architecture very unlike anything I had
seen in England.  Numbers of priests; gangs of slaves, carrying loads;
ladies in black hoods reaching to the feet, called mantilhas; gentlemen
in cloaks; soldiers on foot and on horseback, were moving about in all
directions.  We made a few interesting excursions in the neighbourhood
of the city, and several expeditions about the bay.

Captain Byles was, of course, anxious to proceed on his voyage, and
therefore used all expedition in getting the ship ready for sea.  We,
however, had time to make one long excursion with our new friend to the
Organ Mountains, which we could see from the bay in the far distance.  I
was sorry that Ellen could not go, as it was considered that the trip
would be too fatiguing for her.  We sailed up to the head of the bay for
many miles in a pleasure-vessel belonging to our friend, sleeping on
board the first night.  Early the next morning we started on mules
towards the mountains.  The air was most delicious, pure, though warm,
and the scenery very beautiful, as we made our way among heights covered
with a great variety of tropical trees and creepers bearing magnificent
flowers.  Among them were the tall, gently-curved palmetto, elegant tree
ferns, unsurpassed by any of their neighbours in beauty, fuchsias in
their native glory, passion-flowers, and wild vines, hanging in graceful
festoons, and orchids with their brilliant red spikes.  As we passed
through the valley we saw directly before us the mountains we were about
to visit, and from their shape we agreed that they were well called the
Organ Mountains; for as we then saw them, the centre height especially
wore the appearance of a huge organ.  "A grand instrument that," said
Tony, "such as I suppose an angel might choose to sound forth the music
of the spheres."

We wound our way up amid the tame beautiful and wild scenery till we
reached the summit, whence we enjoyed a magnificent view over the
surrounding country, with Rio and the blue ocean in the far distance.
We had not come without provisions, nor had the scenery taken away our
appetites.  We had also brought our guns, and led by our friend, we
started off on foot in search of game.  We had gone some distance, when,
as we were approaching one of the numerous pools of dear water which are
found even in the higher parts of the Organ Mountains, our friend
stopped us and pointed towards a large tree, beneath the shade of whose
wide-spreading boughs lay a creature apparently asleep.  At first I
thought he was a large horse or hornless cow, but as we crept closer to
it, and could see the shape of its head, I discovered that it was a very
different animal.  "That is a tapir--the largest wild animal we have in
South America," whispered our friend.  As we approached the animal got
up and looked about.  We remained perfectly quiet, to examine it at
leisure.  It appeared to be nearly four feet in height, and perhaps six
in length, the colour a deep brown, almost black.  It had a stiff mane,
and a very short stumpy tail, while its body appeared destitute of hair.
It was not so, however, as I afterwards found; but the hair could not
be perceived in consequence of being closely depressed to the surface.
Its legs were short and thick, and its feet of great size.  The head was
unlike that of any other animal I had ever seen.  It was very long, and
the upper lip or snout was lengthened into a kind of proboscis, which
looked as if it might grow up into the trunk of an elephant.  We were to
leeward of the animal, but it quickly discovered us, and began to move
off, when Faithful and True rushed forward, barking vehemently.
Houlston fired, but the shot bounded off the tapir's thick shield-like
hide, and away it went dashing through the dense underwood with a force
which broke down the shrubs opposing its progress.  We had great
difficulty in getting back our brave little dogs.  They returned at
length, panting with their exertions.  Fortunately the tapir was
frightened, or they would have found him more than a match for them.
Our friend told us that it has four toes on its front feet, and three on
the hinder ones, cased with horn.  It manages with its flexible upper
lip to tear away the leaves and to pick up the water-melons and gourds
which it finds when it goes forth at night in search of food.  However,
it is in no way particular, being almost as omnivorous as the hog.  Its
senses of smell and hearing are very acute.  Its eyes, though, are small
and its ears short.  Its voice is a shrill kind of whistle, such as one
would not expect to proceed from an animal of such massive bulk.  It is
extremely fond of the water, and delights in floundering about in the
mud.  It can swim and dive also admirably, and will often remain
underneath the surface for many minutes together, and then rising for a
fresh supply of air, plunge down again.  It indeed appears to be almost
as amphibious as the hippopotamus, and has consequently been called
_Hippopotamus terrestris_.

We all laughed at Houlston's ill success.  It was the first attempt, I
believe, he had ever made at shooting.

"The aim was not bad though," observed Tony, "and if the hide had been
soft, the shot would have gone into it."

"It was a good large object, however, to aim at," said John.  "A bullet
would have been more effectual in bringing the creature to the ground."

"I am not quite so certain of that," observed our friend, "for its tough
hide is almost bullet-proof."

Houlston stood our bantering very good-naturedly, and managed in the
course of the day to bring down a couple of birds.  "You see, I improve
by practice," he observed; "and one of these days I may turn out a
dead-shot."

I have described the tapir here as it was the first I met, but I
afterwards had better opportunities of observing the animal.  As soon as
our mules had rested we commenced our return, as our friend could not be
long absent from Rio.  We were at length once more on board the _Inca_.

Tony and Houlston expected to start with the Portuguese mate for the
north in the course of two or three days, and they promised to send me
an account of their adventures as soon as possible on their arrival at
Para.  The _Inca_ appeared once more in fit trim to encounter any storm
we might meet with in our passage round Cape Horn.  At first the weather
was very lovely; but as we were running down the coast of Patagonia a
heavy gale sprang up from the southward, which threatened to drive us
back again.  Fortunately a sheltering bay was near at hand.  Running
into it, the ship was brought to an anchor, and we there lay as calmly
as if no storm was raging without.  The country, however, was wild and
desolate in appearance.  I should have thought no human beings would
have been found on it, but on looking through our glasses we observed a
number moving about, some on horseback, others on foot, apparently
watching us.  "Are you inclined to go on bore, gentlemen?" said the
captain to us.  Of course we replied Yes.  Ellen begged that she might
go likewise.  We objected, fearing that she might be exposed to danger.
"She will be perfectly safe," answered Captain Byles; "for though the
people on shore are not very prepossessing, I have always found them
perfectly harmless.  We will, however, carry our muskets, and the crew
shall be armed likewise."

We were soon on shore, proceeding over the rough ground towards the
natives.  They seeing Ellen and Maria in our midst, advanced without
fear.  They halted, however, at a little distance from us, when we put
out our hands and walked towards them.  They were big, stout men of a
brown complexion, with long black hair hanging down their necks.  Their
only dress consisted of skins fastened across their shoulders, leaving
bare their enormous limbs.  When we put out our hands they put out
theirs.

"Good day, my friends," said Captain Byles.

"Good day," exclaimed the savages in almost the same tone.

"Hillo! what, do you speak English?" cried Arthur.

"Hillo! what, do you speak English?" echoed the Patagonians.

"Of course I do," answered Arthur.

"Of course I do," said the natives.

Indeed, whatever words we uttered they repeated.  We on this burst into
fits of laughter, our new acquaintances doing the same, as if we had
uttered a capital joke.  They beat us, however, at that, for though we
stopped, they continued laughing--ay right heartily.  At all events they
knew what that meant.  Friendship was thus speedily established.
Pointing to their skin tents at no great distance, supported on poles,
and in shape like those of gipsies, but rather larger, they seemed to
invite us to them.  We accordingly accompanied them.  In front of the
tents sat a number of women.  They differed somewhat from the men, by
having more ample robes of skin, and their hair bound by fillets round
their heads.  They were, however, very unprepossessing-looking ladies.
They all seemed to regard Ellen with looks of astonishment now gazing at
her, now at her black attendant, and were evidently discussing among
themselves how it was that they were of such different colours.  We saw
a number of horses scattered about the plain, and several of the men
were riding backwards and forwards armed with bows, and having at their
backs large quivers full of arrows, and small round shields.  The women
were broiling meat at fires before the tents.  They offered us some, and
from the bones and feathers scattered about, we concluded that it was
the flesh of the ostrich, which bird inhabits in large numbers the vast
plains of Patagonia.  Savage as they looked, they evidently wished to
treat us civilly, for they spread some skins on the ground inside one of
their tents, and signed to us to take our seats on them.  To please them
we ate a little of the food they set before us, although I must say
their style of cookery was not attractive.  After we had sat for some
time, they continuing to imitate everything we said or did, we took a
stroll round the encampment.  We had not gone far when a large grey bird
with a long neck and long legs, having three toes on its feet, stalked
up to us, and putting out its head, grunted in our faces.  Arthur and I
took off our hats and made it a bow in return, greatly to the amusement
of the Patagonians, who burst into loud fits of laughter at the joke.
We recognised the bird at once as the _Rhea Americana_, or American
ostrich.  As we did not retreat, it uttered a sharp hiss, and then
poised itself as if it was about to attack us, and so I think it would
have done, had not the natives driven it away.  It was about five feet
high, the neck completely feathered, the back of a dark hue, with the
plumes of the wings white.  It is said that the male bird takes care of
the eggs which several hens lay scattered about on the sand.  He sweeps
them together with his feet into a hollow, which serves as a nest, sits
to hatch them, and accompanies the young till they are able to look
after themselves.  On such occasions he will attack a man on horseback
who approaches his charges, and will leap up and try to kick him.

Captain Byles now told us it was time to return on board.  We
accordingly shook hands and made our way towards the boat.  The people,
however, began to assemble round us in considerable numbers.  The
captain therefore ordered us all to keep together and to hurry on,
without, however, showing any signs of fear.  I was very thankful, for
Ellen's sake, when at last we reached the boat in safety.  Whether the
natives had thought of attempting to stop us or not, I do not know.
Perhaps they only purposed to do us honour by thus accompanying us to
the beach.  We agreed that though the men at first looked gigantic, yet
this was owing probably to their style of dress; and the captain was of
opinion that very few of them were much above six feet.  He told me that
they live chiefly on flesh--that of horses, or emus, or guanacoes (a
species of llama), and any other animal they can catch.  We did not
venture on shore again; and after waiting a few days, once more put to
sea.  I thought that these natives were about as savage in appearance as
any people could be.  I discovered, however, shortly afterwards, that
there are other people sunk still lower in the scale of humanity.

Captain Byles purposed running through the Straits of Magellan.  Just,
however, as we were entering them, a strong south westerly gale sprang
up, which prevented us from making the attempt.  We accordingly stood
into a sheltered bay in Terra del Fuego.  The shore looked very
inhospitable--dark rocks rose up at a little distance from the water and
seemed to form a barrier between the sea and the interior.  There were a
few trees, all stunted and bending one way as if forced thus by the
wind.  Still, John and Arthur and I had a fancy for visiting the shore,
in the hope of obtaining some wild fowl.  Having landed with one of the
mates and True, we took our way along the shores of the bay till we
arrived at some high rocks.  Over these we climbed.  On descending, we
found ourselves on the side of an inlet.  We had reached the shore, when
heavy showers of snow began to fall, driven against our faces by the
sharp wind.  We were about, therefore, to turn back, when we saw several
figures moving at a little distance.  Curious to see the natives, which
we concluded these were, in spite of the snow we pushed on.  We advanced
cautiously, keeping a much as possible behind the rocks till we were at
a short distance from them.  We were thus able to observe them before we
were discovered.  They were wild-looking savages.  Their colour was that
of mahogany or rusty iron; their dresses, skins loosely wrapped round
them and very scanty.  One fellow was seated on the side of a canoe with
a couple of dogs near him; while a woman, perhaps his wife, sat at a
little distance, crouching on the ground, covered by her skin robe.  As
soon as they discovered us, instead of approaching as the Patagonians
had done, they sat stupidly gazing at us, lost apparently in
astonishment.  They did not, however, exhibit any sign of alarm as we
walked up to them.  At length they got up, shouting out some words and
patting their breasts, which we concluded was a sign of friendship.
Their dogs snarled at True and he barked in return, and I had to hold
him tight to prevent his flying at them.  Perhaps they understood each
other better than we did the ill-favoured curs' masters or their masters
did us.  Still the greeting did not sound amicable.  The natives were
small, thin, and dirty in the extreme.  Their weapons were bows and
arrows.  The only habitations we could see were wretched lean-tos, just
capable of sheltering them from the wind.  Having an old clasp-knife in
my pocket, I presented it to the chief, who received it with evident
signs of satisfaction.  As there was no inducement to hold further
intercourse with him, we returned by the way we had come, without having
seen a single bird near enough to shoot.

"Yet, Harry, those people have souls, destined to live for ever," said
Arthur, in answer to a remark I made that they were little better than
brutes.  "Don't you think if the gospel were taken to them it would have
its never-failing effect?  I will speak to Captain Byles on the subject
when we get on board."

He did so.  Long since then several noble Christian missionaries visited
that benighted region.  Some perished, but others are still labouring to
make known the glad tidings of salvation to the rude inhabitants of
Patagonia and Terra del Fuego.

Finding it impossible to pass through the Straits, we had to go round
Cape Horn.  A couple of weeks, however, elapsed before we were clear
into the Pacific.  After this we had a quick run, and once more the
lofty summits of the Cordilleras greeted our eyes.  Though I was but a
young child when I had last seen them, so deep was the impression they
had made on me that I recognised them at once.



CHAPTER THREE.

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

At length the _Inca_ was at anchor off the city of Guayaquil.  I had a
faint recollection of its appearance, with Chimborazo's snow-capped dome
towering up in the distance.  Ellen, who had forgotten all about being
there, was delighted with the scenery.  Guayaquil is situated at the
mouth of the river Guayas--the largest on the Pacific coast.  On going
on shore, however, we were somewhat disappointed, as the buildings,
though grand at a distance, have a tumbledown appearance, partly owing
to the earthquakes to which they are subjected, and partly to the
carelessness of the inhabitants in repairing them.  We had great hopes
of meeting our father, but his correspondents in the city had not heard
from him for some time.  The country, we found, was in a very unsettled
state, owing to which, probably, he had not come down from Quito.  We
bade farewell to our kind captain and the crew of the _Inca_.

Some time before, Peru, Chili, and the other Spanish provinces of South
America had thrown off their allegiance to the mother country, forming
themselves into republics.  Their government, however, especially in the
northern provinces, had been as yet far from well established.
Disturbances were continually occurring, preventing the progress of the
country.  First one party took up arms to overthrow another in
authority, and in a short time those who had been superseded played the
same trick to those who had stepped into their places.

We lost no time in making preparations for our journey, the first part
of which was to be performed on board a boat,--seventy miles up the
river to Bodegas.  We were there to engage mules to proceed over the
mountains to Quito, of the difficulties of which journey I had some
slight recollection.

We spent two days at Guayaquil.  Had we not been anxious about our
father and the rest of our family, we should have been well amused.
From the balcony of our house we had a magnificent view of the towering
range of the Andes seen from the east of us, and extending like a mighty
wall north and south.  Far away on the left, and fully a hundred miles
off, appeared the mighty Chimborazo, whose snow-capped summit, rising
far above its fellows, formed a superb background to the range of lesser
mountains and grand forests which cover the intermediate space.  I have
before mentioned the delicious fruits that may be found in abundance in
the city; and I described the curious balsas, on board of which the
natives navigate the coasts and rivers.  We all supplied ourselves with
straw hats, such as are shipped in great numbers from this place under
the name of Panama hats.  They are made from the leaves of an
arborescent plant about five feet high, resembling the palm called
_toquilla_.  The leaf grows on a three-cornered stalk, and is about a
yard long.  It is slit into shreds, and after being immersed in boiling
water is bleached in the sun.  The plaiting is very fine, and the hat is
so flexible that it can be turned inside out, or rolled up and put into
the pocket.  It is impenetrable to rain and very durable.  The chief
export from the place are chinchona, tobacco, orchilla weed, hides,
cotton, coffee, and cacao.

Our friends, we found, were anxious about the difficulties we might
encounter on our journey, on account of the disturbed state of the
country.  They advised us, indeed, to postpone our departure till our
father's arrival, or till we should hear from him.  The thought,
however, that he and our mother and sister might be exposed to danger
made us the more desirous of proceeding; and at length our friends--
against their better judgment, they assured us--concluded the
arrangements for our journey.  We were seated taking coffee the evening
before we were to start, with the magnificent scene I have described
before us, when a stranger was ushered into the room.  He wore over his
shoulders a gay-coloured poncho, and held a broad-brimmed hat in his
hand.  His breeches were of dark cloth, open at the knee, and he had on
embroidered gaiters, and huge spurs, with rowels the size of a
crown-piece.  His jet-black hair, which hung over his shoulders, his
reddish-olive complexion, dark eyes, and somewhat broad face, though his
features were in other respects regular and handsome, told us at once
that he was a native Peruvian.  Our friends saluted him as Don Jose.  He
addressed us in a kind tone, and told us that, having heard we were
about to proceed to Quito, as he was also going in that direction, and
might be of service, he should be happy to accompany us.  Our friends at
once replied that we would thankfully accept his offer, and all
arrangements were quickly made.  We were glad to obtain so intelligent a
companion.  His kind and gentle manner at once gained our confidence,
and though his dress and appearance were those of ordinary Indians of
the upper class, he looked like one accustomed to receive the respect of
his fellow-men.  That he was no common person we were sure.  Why he took
the interest in us which he evinced we could not tell.  John and I
talked the matter over, and at length, recollecting that our father's
mother was of Indian descent, we came to the conclusion that besides
being a friend of our father, he was connected by the ties of blood with
our family.  Still, from the way our friend spoke, there appeared to be
some mystery about him; but they did not offer to enlighten us, nor
could we with propriety ask them, he also was evidently not inclined to
be communicative about himself.

Next morning at daylight we went on board our boat.  In the centre was
an awning, or _toldo_, which served as a cabin.  The crew, consisting of
eight native Indians, urged her on with long broad-bladed oars when the
wind was contrary, while their chief or captain stood astern and steered
with another.  When the wind was favourable a large sail was hoisted,
and we glided rapidly up the river.  The banks are beautifully green,
and covered with an exuberant growth of many varieties of trees; indeed,
the plains on either side vie in richness of vegetation with any other
spot between the tropics.  Several times we cut off bends of the river
by narrow canals, the branches of the trees, interwoven by numberless
creepers, which hung down in festoons covered with brilliant blossoms,
forming a dense canopy over our heads.  Although the stream is sluggish,
we were unable to reach Bodegas that night.  We stopped therefore at the
house of a gentleman engaged in the cultivation of cacao.  The tree on
which it grows somewhat resembles a lilac in size and shape.  The fruit
is yellowish-red, and oblong in shape, and the seeds are enveloped in a
mass of white pulp.  It is from the seeds that chocolate is prepared.
The flowers and fruits grow directly out of the trunk and branches.
Cacao--or, as we call it, cocoa--was used by the Mexicans before the
arrival of the Spaniards.  It was called by them _chocolatt_, from
whence we derive the name of the compound of which it is the chief
ingredient--chocolate.  So highly was it esteemed, that Linnaeus thought
it worthy of the name of _theobroma_--"food for gods."  The tree is
raised from seed, and seldom rises higher than from twenty to thirty
feet; the leaves are large, oblong, and pointed.  It is an evergreen,
and bears fruits and blossoms all the year round.  The fruits are
pointed oval pods, six inches long, and contain in five compartments
from twenty-five to thirty seeds or kernels, enveloped in a white pithy
pulp with a sweet taste.  These seeds when dried form the cocoa of
commerce, from which the beverage is made and chocolate is manufactured.
There are three harvests in the year, when the pods are pulled from the
trees and gathered into baskets.  They are then thrown into pits and
covered with sand, where they remain three or four days to get rid of,
by fermentation, a strong bitter flavour they possess.  They are then
carefully cleaned and dried in large flat trays in the sun.  After this
they are packed in sacks for the market.  Our friend in the morning
showed us some blossoms which had burst forth from the roots during the
night, which happened to be somewhat damp and warm--an example of the
expansive powers of vegetable life in that region.  An oil is extracted
from another species of cacao, the nut of which is small and white.  It
is called cacao-butter, and is used by the natives for burns and sores
and cutaneous diseases.  A large quantity of cacao for the manufacture
of chocolate is exported to Spain.  Among the trees were numbers of the
broad-leaved plantain and banana, which had been planted to protect the
young cacao trees from the heat of the sun.  The fruit of the banana,
one of the most useful productions of the Tropics, is eaten raw,
roasted, boiled, and fried.  It grows in large bunches, weighing from
sixty to seventy pounds each.

Continuing our voyage the next day, we passed amid groves of oranges and
lemons, whose rich perfume was wafted across the water to us.  Here also
the mango, bearing a golden fruit, spread around its splendid foliage;
while, above all, the beautiful cocoanut palm lifted its superb head.
Now and then we saw monkeys gambolling among the trees, as well as many
birds of brilliant plumage.  Among others, a beautiful bird got up from
a bed of reeds we were passing, spreading wide its wings and broad tail
directly before us.  John shot it, and the small canoe we sent to pick
it up.  It was about the size of a partridge, with a crane-like bill, a
slender neck, and shorter legs than ordinary waders, though a wader it
was.  The plumage was shaded curiously in bands and lines with brown,
fawn-colour, red, grey, and black, which Ellen said reminded her of a
superb moth she had seen.  It was the caurale, or sun-bird (_Scolopax
Helios_), our books told us, found also in Demerara.  Less attractive in
appearance were the gallinazos, or vultures, the scavengers of those
regions; while frequently on the mud banks we caught sight of alligators
basking in the hot sun, often fast asleep, with their mouths wide open.

We reached Bodegas early in the day.  It is a large village, built on a
flat.  In the rainy season it is so completely flooded that the people
have to take refuge in the upper stories of their houses.  Thanks to our
friend Don Jose, and the exertions of his chief attendant, Isoro, mules
were quickly procured; and as the attractions of Bodegas were not great,
we immediately set off towards the mountains.  John called Isoro Don
Jose's henchman.  He was, like his master, of pure Indian blood, but of
not so high a type.  Still, he was good-looking, active, and
intelligent.  His dress differed only from that of Don Jose in being of
coarser materials.  We were at once struck with the respect and devotion
with which Isoro treated his master, and with the confidence Don Jose
evidently reposed in him.  We had a journey before us of two hundred
miles, which would occupy eight or ten days.  The first village we
passed through was built high up off the ground on stilts, for in the
rainy season the whole country is completely flooded.  After passing the
green plain, we entered a dense forest.  Road, I should say, there was
none.  Nothing, it seemed to me, could surpass the rich luxuriance of
the vegetation.  On either side were numerous species of palms, their
light and feathery foliage rising among the other trees; bananas, with
their long, glossy, green leaves; and here and there groves of the
slender and graceful bamboo, shooting upwards for many feet straight as
arrows, their light leaves curling over towards their summits; while
orchids of various sorts, many bearing rich-coloured flowers, entwined
themselves like snakes round the trunks and branches.  Don Jose told us
that in the rainy season this road is flooded, and that then the canoe
takes the place of mules.

We put up the first night at a _tambo_, or road-side inn, a bamboo hut
of two stories, thatched with plantain leaves.  As the lower part was
occupied by four-footed animals, we had to climb into the upper story by
means of a couple of stout bamboos with notches cut in them.  We here
hung up our hammocks, and screened off a part for Ellen and Maria.  Next
day we began to ascend the mountains by the most rugged of paths.
Sometimes we had to wind up the precipice on a narrow ledge, scarcely
affording footing to the mules.  It was trying to the nerves, for while
on one side rose a perpendicular wall of rock, on the other the
precipice went sheer down for several hundred feet, with a roaring
torrent at the bottom.  Wild rocks were before and above us, trees and
shrubs, however, growing out of every crevice and on each spot where
soil could rest, while behind spread out a wide extent of forest, amid
which we could distinguish the river winding its way to the Pacific.
Few birds or beasts were to be seen--the monkeys and parrots we had left
below us; gallinazos, or black vultures, were, however, still met with,
as they are everywhere throughout the continent, performing their
graceful evolutions in the air, wheeling round and round without closing
their wings, in large flocks, above the watery region we had left.  The
black vulture (_Cathartes atratus_), which closely resembles the
well-known turkey buzzard in habits and appearance, performs, like it,
the duty of scavenger, and is protected therefore by the inhabitants of
all parts of the country.  It may be distinguished from the latter by
the form of the feathers on the neck, which descend from the back of the
head towards the throat in a sloping direction; whereas the turkey
buzzard has a frill of them completely round the throat.  The head and
part of the neck of the black vulture are destitute of feathers, and are
covered with a black wrinkled skin, on which a few hairs only grow.
"See, what grand fellows are these!" exclaimed Arthur.  I gazed up.  On
a rock close above us stood a couple of large birds, which were
unmistakably vultures.

"Dreadful-looking creatures," cried Ellen.  "They make me shudder.  They
seem as if preparing to pounce down on some little innocent lambs to
carry them off."

"It would prefer a dead mule, I suspect," observed John.  "Like other
vultures, it is not nice as to the nature of its food.  It is called the
King of the Vultures (_Sarcoramphus papa_), properly so, for it is the
strongest and bravest of the vulture tribe though inferior in size to
the condor.  Observe its head and neck, brilliantly coloured with
scarlet and yellow to make amends for the want of feathers.  On the
crown of its head, too, is a rich scarlet patch.  Close to the eye there
is a silvery blue mark, and above it part of the skin is blue and part
scarlet.  The bill is orange and black, and those curious lumps or
carbuncles on its forehead are rich orange.  At the lower part of the
neck it wears a black ruff.  The wing feathers and tail are black, and
the lower part of the body white, and the rest a fine grey satin
colour."

While John was speaking, the birds, spreading out their huge wings,
glided off the rock, and then by an imperceptible movement of them
soared upwards, and, hovering for a few seconds in the air, they darted
downwards into the plain, and were lost to sight.

"You need not be afraid of their attacking any living creature, Senora
Ellen," observed Don Jose.  "They have no relish for meat till it has
gained a higher flavour than we should like, and dead lizards and snakes
are much to their taste.  Even those they discover, I believe, rather by
sight than by scent."

We had been proceeding along a somewhat broader part of the road than
usual, though, as it was very steep, we climbed but slowly.  Now
rounding a sharp point, we came to a spot which made me wonder if those
ahead could possibly have got by; and I could not help gazing anxiously
downwards, almost expecting to find that some one had fallen over the
precipice.  Ellen kept up her courage admirably, and never hesitated to
follow where others led.  I could not help asking once if she did not
feel afraid.  "No," she answered.  "I always look upwards when I come to
a difficult place, and so pass without alarm."  Ellen's plan is the
right one, metaphorically speaking, to adopt in all the difficulties and
trials of life: look upwards, and we shall be carried safely through
them.  On we went till we found ourselves among a chaos of mountains,
separated by ravines so deep that the eye could scarcely distinguish the
rapid streams which found their way below.  On one side rose into the
clear blue sky the majestic summit of Chimborazo, while other peaked and
round-topped mountains reared their heads proudly around.  At length the
summit of the sierra was reached, and our mules commenced a descent into
the valley, drawing their legs together and sliding down with fearful
velocity.  I had bean anxious before, I was doubly so now; but the
animals with wonderful sagacity kept the centre of the path, and in time
I lost all sensation of fear, and could admire the beautiful scenery.

The tambos, or road-side inns, we stopped at were mostly huts of the
rudest kind, with mud walls and floors, kept by Indians, and dirty in
the extreme.  The entertainment provided for us was boiled chicken and
potato-soup, called in the mountains _locro_.  Wooden spoons were served
to enable us to ladle up the soup, but our fingers had to be used for
the chicken, instead of knives and forks.

We seldom had an opportunity while on mule-back of exchanging thoughts
except at the top of our voices, as in most places we were compelled to
travel in Indian file, one following the other.  We were once more
ascending the steep side of the mountain, when, on rounding a point, we
saw coming towards us a single traveller.  As he caught sight of us he
stopped his mule, and made signs for us to come on toward the spot where
the greater width of the road would allow us to pass him.  As we got up
to him I saw that he was a negro, dressed in the usual poncho and
broad-brimmed hat of the traveller in the Andes.  Don Jose, John, and
Arthur had ridden by, when the stranger's eye fell on Maria.

"It must be, after all!"  I heard him exclaim in Spanish.  "Maria! yes,
it is you!  Si, _si_, and I rejoice greatly."

"And you are Domingos; I am sure you are," exclaimed Maria.

"Yes, that is true," answered the old man.  "I have come expressly to
find you.  I have brought bad news; but it might be worse, so be not
alarmed."

"What is it?"  I asked eagerly.  "Are my father, or mother, or sister
ill?"

"No; they are all well," said Domingos; "but sad events have occurred at
Quito.  There has been a great disturbance--a revolution--no new thing
unhappily; and your father's house has been burned down, and they have
had to fly, and try to escape from the country.  They are safe by this
time, I hope.  I came on to conduct you to them.  I have been riding
fast to try and meet you to prevent you taking the direct road to Quito.
A body of troops are marching along the road, and if you were to fall
into their hands you would be ill-treated.  We will descend some
distance by the way you have come, and take shelter in yonder forest
which clothes the side of the mountain.  We shall be safe there, and I
doubt not obtain shelter in one of the huts of the chinchona gatherers."

Domingos had given me this account in a few hurried words.  I instantly
called to the rest of our party who were ahead, and we were all soon
collected in a nook in the side of the mountain, where we held a
consultation as to what should be done.  We quickly agreed to follow the
advice of Domingos.  Don Jose was greatly agitated at hearing what had
occurred.

"They would treat me with but scant ceremony, were I to fall into their
hands," he observed; "and I am afraid that you would suffer also were I
to be found in your company.  However, we may easily escape in the
forest should any search be made for us, and therefore let us lose no
time in seeking its shelter."

While he was speaking, I caught sight of some figures high up the
mountain, at a point round which the path wound its way.  I pointed them
out to Domingos.

"They are the soldiers," he exclaimed; "I see the glitter of their arms!
We have no time to lose.  Move on, my friends, move on!  If we were
overtaken it would fare hard with us."

Don Jose, who had also been looking towards the point, made us a sign to
follow, and rapidly led the way down the side of the mountain, our
native muleteers being evidently as anxious to avoid the soldiers as we
were.  The Indians had, it appeared, taken an active part in the
insurrection which had just broken out, and our guides knew, therefore,
that, should they be caught, the party in power would very likely wreak
their vengeance on their heads.

We descended for a considerable distance along the path by which we had
come.  Occasionally looking back, I caught sight of the troops as they
wound their way in a thin column down the mountain.  We, however,
appeared to be keeping well ahead of them; and I hoped that our small
party might have escaped observation.  At length Don Jose stopped, and
getting off his mule, surveyed the side of the hill which sloped away
below us.  Coming back, he took the bridle of his mule, and made it leap
off the path on one side on to what appeared a mere ledge of rock.
"Come on," he shouted; "I will show you the way; but you must all
dismount and follow the mules on foot."  We accordingly got off our
animals, which were made to leap down to the ledge below us, and
willingly followed the first mule, which Don Jose was leading.  John and
I took charge of Ellen, while Domingos helped Maria along.  The path was
very narrow and steep, but where the mules had gone we had little doubt
that we could follow.  In a short time we found ourselves descending by
a zig-zag path among trees which grew out of the side of the mountain,
here and there huge blocks of rock projecting among them.  Thus we went
on for a considerable distance.  Once when we stopped I looked upwards,
and caught sight of the head of the column of troops just as they were
reaching the very place we had left.  At length we reached the bottom of
the valley, through which a stream went foaming and roaring downwards
over a rocky bed.  The mountains rose up on either side, completely
surrounding us.  "This stream will be a safe guide," observed Don Jose;
"and if we proceed along its banks, we shall reach a spot where we can
remain concealed even should a whole regiment come in search of us."  We
proceeded on foot some distance, the active mules leaping from rock to
rock, while we scrambled on after them.  Sometimes we could with
difficulty get round the rugged points at the foot of which the stream
forced its way, while the cliffs towered up high above our heads.  Here
and there we caught sight of the snowy pinnacles of the mountains rising
towards the sky.  At length we emerged into a more open valley, and were
once more able to mount our mules.  We now entered the forest.  Don Jose
led the way by a path which was scarcely perceptible.  I observed here
and there notches on the barks of the trees, which I concluded served to
guide him.  Through an opening in the trees I saw the sun setting
towards the valley below us; and had I not possessed great confidence in
our conductor, I should have been afraid that we were about to be
benighted.  Directly afterwards we entered a thicker part of the forest.
Often it was with difficulty we could see our way amid the dense
foliage.  Don Jose, however, did not hesitate.  After proceeding for
some distance, the sound of a woodman's axe reached our ears, and we saw
through an opening ahead several persons engaged cutting away at the
vines which had prevented the tall tree they had just hewn down from
reaching the ground.  A little way beyond was a hut, and in its
neighbourhood several persons were at work.  "These are my friends,"
said Don Jose, "and they will willingly afford us shelter for the night,
and protect us to the best of their power."

While he was speaking, the man who appeared to be the director of the
party came forward and greeted him.  A short conversation ensued.

"We will remain here for to-night," said Don Jose, "but it may be more
prudent to proceed further into the depths of the forest to-morrow.  It
is possible that our enemies may discover the road we have taken and
come here to search for us, and, besides the risk we ourselves should
run, we should bring trouble on our friends."

Riding up to the hut, our mules were unloaded, and our hammocks and the
packages were taken inside.  It was a large shed, far better built than
many of the tambos we had stopped at, with thick walls and roof to
protect the bark from the effects of the weather.  It was already about
half full of bundles of this valuable commodity.  Each bundle was
tightly done up, and weighed as much as a man could carry up the steep
mountain's side.

We as usual set to work to form a separate chamber for Ellen and her
attendant: this we did with bundles of the bark, leaving a door and
window for ventilation.  Ellen thanked us for our trouble, saying that
she had not had so comfortable a room since the commencement of our
journey.  John, Arthur, and I slung our hammocks in the building, while
the rest of the party were accommodated in the huts of the
bark-gatherers.  A rough table was soon formed within the large shed,
and benches were brought in, and a substantial repast made ready.  The
chief dishes were the usual potato-soup and some roast meat.  We could
not at first make out whether it was venison or mutton, but found on
inquiry that it was the flesh of a vicuna, which had been shot by the
sportsman of the party in the morning.  It is an animal resembling the
llama, the well-known beast of burden of the ancient Peruvians.  Don
Jose and his friend sat down to table with us, and Domingos waited.

"But of what use is this bark!" asked Ellen, looking up at the huge
bundles piled up on either side.  "Is it for tanning?"

"Oh no," answered John.  "This is the celebrated Peruvian bark, to which
the name of chinchona has been given.  It was bestowed on it in
consequence of the wife of the Viceroy of Peru, the Countess of
Chinchona, having been cured of a tertian ague in the year 1638.  The
count and his wife, on returning to Spain, took with them a quantity of
the healing bark; and they were thus the first persons to introduce this
valuable medicine into Europe, where it was for some time known as the
countess's bark or powder, and was named by the celebrated naturalist
Linnaeus chinchona, in memory of the great service the countess had
rendered to the human race.  The Jesuits were great promoters also of
the introduction of the bark into Europe.  Some Jesuit missionaries in
1670 sent parcels of the powder or bark to Rome, whence it was
distributed throughout Europe by the Cardinal de Lugo, and used for the
cure of agues with great success.  Hence, also, it was often called
Jesuit's bark, and cardinal's bark."

"Yes, I have heard of that," observed Don Jose, laughing; "and I am told
that for some time it was in consequence opposed by the Protestants, and
especially favoured by the Roman Catholics."

"Yes," said John, "I believe that for a very long time a very strong
prejudice existed against it; and even physicians opposed its use,
considering it at best a dangerous medicine.  It is now, however,
acknowledged to be a sovereign remedy for ague of all descriptions.  I
believe the French astronomer De la Condamine, who went to Quito in the
year 1735 to measure an arc of a degree, and thus to determine the shape
of the earth, was the first person who sent home a full account of the
tree."

"We call it quinquina," (bark of barks), observed Don Jose.  "Some of
its virtues, if not all, were known to the Peruvians long before they
were discovered by Europeans."

"Ah! that is the reason it is called quinine by the English," observed
John.  "I did not before know the derivation of the word."

"Since its use became general in Europe, the export trade of the
quinquina has been very considerable," observed Don Jose.  "Forests
containing groves of these trees are found in various regions throughout
the northern parts of the Cordilleras.  My friend here has been engaged
since his boyhood in collecting the bark, as was his father before him.
When searching for new districts, it is the custom for the
cascarilleros, or bark-collectors, to set forth in parties of a dozen or
more men, with supplies of food and tools.  They make their way into the
unknown forest, where they suppose, from its elevation above the sea and
its general appearance, that the chinchona trees will be found.  They
are always accompanied by an experienced searcher, called the
_cateador_.  He climbs the highest tree in the neighbourhood, and
searches about till he discovers the _manchas_, or clumps, of the
chinchona trees by their dark colour, and the peculiar reflection of the
light from their leaves, which can be distinguished even in the midst of
a wide expanse of forest.  He then, descending, conducts the party
through the tangled brushwood, often for hours together, marking his way
with his wood-knife, till he reaches the clump.  Here they build rough
huts, such as you see around us, and commence their work.  The first
operation is to cut down a tree, when the bark is carefully stripped
off, and kept as free as possible from dirt or moisture, as it easily
becomes mouldy, and loses its colour.  It is important to cut the tree
as close down to the ground as possible, in order that fresh shoots may
grow up.  There are various species of the quinquina.  One is known by
the name of grey bark, another as the red bark, which is considered the
most valuable.  The bark which you see around you is of the latter
species; and the men employed in collecting can each make from one to
two dollars a day.  In the more distant forests, however, they have to
undergo great danger in the work.  Sometimes they have been known to
lose themselves in the forest and having exhausted their provisions,
have died of hunger.  They are compelled also to carry the load of bark
on their own backs, and occasionally a man breaks down under the weight
and can proceed no further, when, if he is separated from his
companions, he has little hope of escaping with life.  There are,
besides the species I have mentioned, a vast number of chinchona, though
the bark of some yields little or none of the valuable drug."

As soon as supper was over we retired to our hammocks, that we might be
prepared to set out at an early hour to a more secure spot in the
forest.  John and I lay awake for some time, talking over our prospects.
Of course we were very anxious about what might happen to our family;
for though Domingos had evidently not wished to alarm us, we saw that he
was uneasy about them.  We also could not shut our eyes to the
difficulties and dangers we should have to undergo; not that we cared
much about them on our own account, but on Ellen's.  Though she was a
brave girl, we were afraid that she might suffer from the hardships she
might have to endure in travelling over that mountain region.  What our
father had done to draw upon himself the hostility of the Government
party we could not tell.  He had, however, always shown an interest in
the natives, and by his just and kind treatment of them had won their
regard.  We concluded, therefore, that he was in some way supposed to be
implicated in the outbreak which had lately taken place.  At length we
dropped off to sleep.

The rest of the night passed quietly away.  I awoke as the grey dawn was
stealing into the hut, and at once turned out of my hammock.  I stood
contemplating the wild scene for some minutes, admiring the size and
variety of the trees which rose up in the forest before me.  Some had
enormous buttress trunks, which sent down rope-like tendrils from their
branches in every direction.  There was the gigantic balsam-tree, the
india-rubber-tree, and many others.  Among them were numerous palms--one
towering above the rest with its roots shooting out in every direction
from eight feet above the ground, and another slender and beautiful; but
the most remarkable of all was the _sayal_--so Don Jose called it--the
monarch of the palms of these forests.  It had rather a short, thick
stem, the inner fibres of its stalk being like black wool; but its
remarkable feature was its enormous leaves, which grew erect from the
stem for forty feet in length.  They must be the largest leaves, John
and I agreed, in the whole vegetable kingdom.  There were many bright
and scarlet flowers, and numberless beautiful orchids hanging from the
branches of the trees.  Beyond the forest rose rugged cliffs, dark black
rocks with lofty ranges of mountains towering above them.  I was soon
joined by my companions, and in a little time Ellen and Maria came
forth.  As it was almost dark when we reached the spot, we had formed no
idea of the wonderful scenery surrounding us Domingos did not appear,
and John inquired of Don Jose what had become of him.

"He has gone to ascertain in what direction the troops have marched," he
answered.  "We shall have to take our road accordingly.  Besides the
high road, there is another by which I can lead you, but it is still
more steep and difficult yet, as we shall thus avoid the risk of meeting
with enemies, it may be the safest for us."

A couple of hours passed away, during which we breakfasted on some
delicious chocolate prepared by our host.  Still Domingos had not
returned.  The mules, however, were got ready, that we might start,
should it be necessary, immediately he appeared.

"I trust the honest man has not been taken prisoner," observed Don Jose;
"it might fare ill with him.  But I am sure he would endure any cruelty
rather than betray us; and if he does not soon appear we will proceed on
our journey, and my friend here will send a man to show him the road we
have taken."

An hour passed, and as Domingos did not return, we mounted our mules and
proceeded through the forest.  Had we been on foot we might have
followed some paths which the bark-collectors had cut; but many of them
would only allow of a person proceeding in a stooping posture under the
numberless creepers which were interwoven amid the branches of the
trees.  We had therefore to make a considerable circuit.  At length we
came to a less frequented part of the forest, and here we were compelled
to use our knives and hatchets to clear away the art-work of creepers
which impeded our progress.  We all dismounted, and led the mules
through the path we had thus formed.  In several places we found, after
an hour's toil, that we had not progressed more than half a mile.

"We shall reach more open country by-and-by," said Don Jose, "so we need
not despair."

At length we came upon a small party of men engaged in stripping off the
bark from a tree which they had lately cut down.  Don Jose spoke to
them.  They saluted him with marks of respect, and one of them, throwing
his arm over his shoulder, led us through the forest to a small hut
concealed by the surrounding trees.  Its interior was not very tempting,
but it would afford us shelter from the night air should we be detained
there.  It was destitute of furniture, with the exception of several
hammocks hung up at one end, and a few pots and other cooking apparatus
in the corner.  Our attendants, however, at once began to sweep it out,
while Ellen and Maria sat down on a log outside.

"The night is likely to be fine, and our friends will gladly give you up
their hut," said Don Jose.

"We will wait here till Domingos appears.  I have made arrangements that
we should have ample notice should any enemies come in pursuit of us.
We are surrounded by friends, and I have no doubt we shall be able to
escape."

Don Jose had secured a fresh supply of food, so that in a short time an
ample meal was spread on the ground, round which we collected in picnic
fashion.  We had just concluded it when we heard footsteps approaching.
As we looked out, Domingos appeared before us.  His countenance
exhibited anxiety, and taking Don Jose aside, he conversed with him for
some minutes.

"We must proceed at early dawn by the road I have mentioned to you,"
said our friend, returning to us.  "Domingos has had a narrow escape of
being made prisoner.  He tells me that the soldiers are pursuing the
patriots and natives in every direction, and treating them with the
greatest cruelty, shooting and hanging them whenever they are found.
Although they would not venture probably to ill-treat you, you might be
subjected to great inconvenience, and certainly detained and prevented
from reaching your parents.  However, I trust that we shall be able to
avoid them, and to reach the eastern slopes of the Andes without
interruption.  Your father has ever proved my firmest friend, and I
rejoice therefore to have the opportunity of showing my gratitude by
being of service to his children.  We shall be able to remain here
during the night, and will recommence our journey by dawn, so as to
reach the most difficult pass by mid-day, and I trust before evening to
have gained a place of safety."

"You will do well, my dear masters, to trust our friend thoroughly,"
said Domingos to John and me, while Don Jose was at a little distance.
"I know your father has a great regard for him, and whatever he promises
he can perform.  You are indeed fortunate in meeting with him.  He is a
cacique, whose fathers once had great power in the country; and though
deprived of his lands, he is still looked up to with respect by the
natives in all parts of the country."

"Then how comes he to be called Don Jose?"  I asked.

"That is the name by which he is known to the whites, and it is the
safest by which to speak of him," answered Domingos.  "I know not if I
ought to tell his real name; but you will be cautious, or he might be
displeased with me."

"Yes; do tell me," I said; "I am curious to know more about him."

Domingos looked around.  The person we were speaking of was still out of
hearing.

"I will tell you, then," he replied.  "His real name is Pumacagua.  His
father, who headed the last attempt of the Indians to gain their liberty
before the revolution, when numerous tribes gathered to his standard,
was defeated, made prisoner, and shot.  Young Jose, our friend, after
fighting bravely, escaped, and though sought for, was not discovered.
Your father had concealed him at great hazard, and afforded him shelter
till better times came round.  He and I were the only persons in the
secret.  Jose Pumacagua has, therefore, reason to be grateful to your
father, besides being connected with him by the ties of blood."

Just then Don Jose, as I will still call him, came up, and we were
unable to ask further questions of Domingos.  Ellen was much interested
when we afterwards narrated to her what we had heard, and said that she
should try and get Don Jose to tell us his adventures, as she was sure
they must be very curious.

We were soon left quite alone; for the cascarilleros, having loaded
themselves with the result of their labour, took their way through the
forest.  Our friend told us that they were carrying the bark to a
village out of the forest, where it would be free from damp, and be
exposed to the drying influence of the sun.  When thoroughly dried it
would be conveyed to the town of Guaranda, and then sent down by mules
to Guayaquil.  I should have mentioned that the chinchona trees
surrounding us were very beautiful and graceful.  They had large, broad,
oval, deep green, shining leaves, with white and fragrant flowers, and
the bark was of a red colour.  The trees varied in height from forty to
sixty feet.  There were other trees in the neighbourhood which looked
very like them, but Don Jose showed us the difference.  The nature of
the bark is known by its splintery, fibrous, or corky texture.  The true
bark is of the former character.

Having cleaned out the hut, we made our usual arrangements for passing
the night.  Don Jose and Domingos, I saw, were somewhat uneasy, and two
of the men were sent out as scouts to watch the path by which we had
reached the hut.

"It is well to take precautions against surprise," observed our friend.
"However, our enemies, if they do follow us, will not travel during the
night, so that we shall be able, by moving early, to have a good start
of them."

At length, two hours after sunset, the Indians returned, reporting that
they had seen no one.  I was awaked by hearing Don Jose's voice--"Up,
friends, up!  We will be on the road, and not breakfast till we reach a
spot where no foe is likely to follow us."  He held a torch in his hand,
by the light of which we got ready to mount.  The Indians had meantime
saddled the mules, which were brought round to the door of the hut.
"Follow my example," he said, producing from a bag which he carried
slung over his shoulder, under his poncho, some dried leaves.  "This
will enable you to travel on for many hours without hunger, and assist
in preventing the damp air of the forest from having any ill effect."
Sitting down on the trunk of a felled tree, he placed the bag before
him, and put leaf after leaf into his mouth, till he had formed a small
ball.  He then took out from the bag a little cake, which I have since
found was composed of carbonate of potash, prepared by burning the stalk
of the quinoa plant, and mixing the ashes with lime and water.  The
cakes thus formed are called _llipta_.  The coca-bag, which he called
his _chuspa_, was made of llama cloth, dyed red and blue in patterns,
with woollen tassels hanging from it.  His attendants followed their
master's example, as did John, Arthur, and I.  Domingos, however,
declined doing so, and speedily prepared some chocolate for Ellen,
Maria, and himself.  A little time was thus occupied, and mounting, we
turned our mules' heads towards the east, just as the grey light of dawn
appeared above the mountain-tops, the stars still shining with a calm
light out of the deep blue sky above our heads, not glittering and
twinkling as in northern climes.  We were thus initiated by our friend
in the use of the far-famed coca.

"How do you like it?" he asked.

"I find the smell of the leaf agreeable and aromatic, and now I am
chewing it, it appears to give out a grateful fragrance," I answered.
It caused, I found, a slight irritation, which somewhat excited the
saliva.

"Ah! you will be enabled to go on if you wish till noon without eating,
and then with a fresh supply continue on with active exercise till
nightfall," he observed.  "It is with this wonderful leaf that the
running chasquis or messengers have from time immemorial been able to
take their long journeys over the mountains and deserts.  It must not be
used to excess, or it might prove prejudicial to the health, yet in
moderation it is both soothing and invigorating.  It will prevent any
difficulty of respiration also as you ascend the steep mountain-sides."

The coca-plant grows, I should say, at an elevation of about 6000 feet
above the level of the sea.  It is a shrub from four to six feet high,
the branches straight and alternate, and the leaves, in form and size,
like tea-leaves.  They are gathered three times a year.  They are then
spread out in a drying-yard and carefully dried in the sun.  The dried
leaf is called coca.  They are afterwards packed in sacks made of banana
leaves.  It is most important to keep them dry, as they otherwise
quickly spoil.

Daylight at length enabled us to see our way along one of the wildest
and most rugged paths on which I should think it is possible for animals
to proceed.  Up, up we went, with a roaring torrent on one side, and a
glorious view beyond of mountain above mountain, some snow-covered,
others running up into sharp peaks--others, again, considerably lower,
clothed even to their summits with graceful palms, whose feathery tops
stood out against the sky.  Sometimes we had to cross narrow chasms on
the fallen stems of trees; now we arrived at a wide one, to be crossed
by means of a suspension bridge, which swung frightfully from side to
side.  It made me giddy as I watched those who first passed along it.
It was composed of the tough fibres of the maguey, a sort of osier of
great tenacity and strength, woven into cables.  Several of these cables
forming the roadway were stretched over buttresses of stone on either
side of the bank, and secured to stout timbers driven into the ground
beyond them.  The roadway was covered with planks, and on either side
was a railing of the same sort of rope as the rest of the bridge.  Light
as it appeared, the mules one by one were led over.  We followed, not
venturing to look down into the foaming torrent, rushing impetuously
along a hundred feet or more below us.  Soon after this a ladder of
rocks appeared in front of us.  We were here compelled to dismount, Don
Jose and John helping up Ellen, Domingos assisting Maria, Arthur and I
scrambling up by ourselves while the Indians, waiting till we had
reached the summit, remained behind to drive on the mules.  Every
instant I expected to see one of them roll over; but they climbed up
more like monkeys than quadrupeds, and at length joined us on a small
level spot at the summit.

"A dozen bold men might hold this pass against a thousand enemies,"
observed our friend.  "Few but our people know it, though.  We will
proceed yet higher, and cross the most elevated pass before we stop for
breakfast, if your sister can endure hunger so long."

"Oh yes, yes!" exclaimed Ellen.  "I would not have you delay on my
account.  The chocolate I took prevents me feeling any hunger, even
though this pure air is calculated to give an appetite."

On and on we went, at as rapid a rate as our mules could move, upwards
and upwards, the scenery if possible growing wilder and wilder at every
step.  Huge masses of rock rose above our heads, with snow-topped
pinnacles peeping out at each break between them.  We had gone on some
way further, when at a short distance on our left I saw perched on the
top of a rock a huge bird, its head bent forward as if about to pounce
down upon us.  Presently we saw its wings expand.  It was of great size,
with huge claws, a pointed, powerful beak, a neck destitute of feathers,
and a huge comb on its forehead.  The feathers were of a glossy black
hue, with a white ruff at the base of the neck.

"Do you think he will attack us?"  I said to Don Jose.

He laughed.  "No; he is a coward!  We can easily drive him off if he
make the attempt."

He shouted loudly.  At that instant the condor, for such was the bird
near us, spreading out its huge wings, slowly glided into the air.  At
first the weight of its body seemed to keep it down, but gradually it
rose, mounting higher and higher, until it appeared like a mere speck in
the blue sky.

"He has gone off to the distant ocean," observed our companion; "or to
seek for prey among the flocks on the plains below.  He will not return
till evening, when probably we shall see him, or some of his brothers,
flying over our heads, and pitching on the lofty peaks amid which they
dwell."

The highest point of the pass was at length reached.  We all felt a
difficulty in breathing, and even our hardy mules stood still and gasped
for breath.  We let them proceed slowly, while we had time to admire the
magnificent spectacle which the mountain scenery afforded.  Around us on
every side rose up lofty peaks and rugged heights, prominent among which
appeared the snow-capped, truncated peak of Cotopaxi, looking like a
vast sugar-loaf.  The rocks, too--huge masses of porphyry--were broken
into all sorts of shapes, and were of every variety of colour, from dark
brown to the brightest lilac, green, purple, and red, and others of a
clear white, producing a very curious and beautiful effect, and at the
same time showing us to what violent throes and upheavings that region
has been subjected.  Below our feet was spread out that gloomy plain
which has been so frequently devastated by the lava and ashes which the
mountain has cast forth.

Descending, we reached a sheltered spot, where grass was found for our
tired mules.  Our saddle-bags were unpacked, the fires lighted, and in a
short time cups of boiling chocolate and a steaming stew, previously
cooked, were arranged for us on the grass.

While wandering a little way from our temporary camp, I saw some large
pale yellow flowers growing on a low shrub.  Presently several small
beautiful birds appeared hovering above them, in no way daunted by my
presence.  As they dipped their long bills into the flowers, I could
observe their plumage, and was convinced, though found at so great an
elevation, that they were humming-birds.  After watching them for some
time, I called Ellen and Arthur to look at them.

"Ah, yes, they are worthy of admiration," exclaimed our Inca friend.
"The bird is the Chimborazian hill-star humming-bird.  It is found
16,000 feet above the ocean, close to the region of snow, and seldom at
a less elevation than 12,000 feet."

The head and throat of the little creature which had excited our
admiration shone with the most brilliant tints, though the rest of the
body was of a more sombre hue.  The upper parts of the body were of a
pale, dusky green, except the wings, which were of the purple-brown tint
common to humming-birds in general.  The head and throat were of the
most resplendent hue, with an emerald green triangular patch on the
throat, while a broad collar of velvety black divided the brilliant
colours of the head from the sober ones of the body.  The hen bird,
which was mostly of a sombre olive-green, was flying about under the
bushes, and almost escaped our notice.

Don Jose told us that a similar bird inhabits the sides of Pichincha,
with different marks on its neck, and that neither at any time visits
the other, each keeping to its own mountain, on which they find the
food, flowers, and insects best suited to their respective tastes.  It
would have been barbarous to have shot the beautiful little birds; but
even had we wished it, it would have been difficult to do so.  So rapid
was their flight, that it was only when they were hovering over a flower
that we could have taken aim.  Ellen wanted to have one caught to keep
as a pet; but Don Jose assured her that it would not live in the low
region of the Amazon, but that we should there find many still more
beautiful species of the same family, some of which she might very
likely be able to tame.  After watching the birds for some time, we
returned to the camp.

Domingos was the first to mount his mule, riding on ahead, that he might
ascertain if the road was clear, while he promised to return and give us
notice should any enemies appear, that we might have time to conceal
ourselves.  This we hoped to be able to do among the wild rocks which
rose up in every direction.  We rode on, however, without interruption
for the remainder of the day, and stopped towards evening at a small mud
hut, inhabited by a Quichua family, who willingly agreed with Don Jose
to conceal and protect us with their lives.  In the morning we proceeded
in the same way as on the previous day.  Thus for several days we
travelled on, resting during the night at rude tambos, the inhabitants
of which, directly Don Jose spoke to them, willingly undertook to give
us accommodation.  The weather was fine, the air pure, bracing, and
exhilarating; and in spite of the fatigue we underwent, none of us
suffered.  Ellen and Maria bore the journey wonderfully.  Although we
were making our way towards the east, frequently we found ourselves
riding round a mountain with our backs to the rising sun.  Now we were
ascending by the side of steep precipices, and now again descending into
deep ravines.  At length Don Jose gave us the satisfactory intelligence
that we had left Quito behind us to the north-west, and that we might
hope to escape falling in with hostile forces.  "Still," he said
privately to John and me, "I cannot promise that we are altogether safe.
We must use great caution, and avoid as much as possible the beaten
tracks.  Parties may have been sent out to the east in search of
fugitives; but we will hope for the best."

As we were ascending a mountain-side, we saw before us, winding
downwards, a long line of animals.  A couple of Indians walked at the
head of the troop, while several other men came at intervals among them.
Each animal carried a small pack on its back; and we soon knew them to
be llamas, as they advanced carrying their long necks upright, with
their large and brilliant eyes, their thick lips, and long and movable
ears.  They were of a brown colour, with the under parts whitish.

As we approached, in spite of the efforts of their conductors, they
scattered away up and down the mountains, leaving the path open to us.
The Indians, however, made no complaint; but as we gained a height above
them, we saw them exerting themselves to re-collect their scattered
cavalcade.  They were going, Don Jose told us, to the coast, to bring
back salt--an article without which human beings can but ill support
life in any part of the world.

We soon after found ourselves travelling on a wide, lofty plain, bounded
by still higher peaks.  In several directions we saw herds of llamas, as
also a smaller animal of the same species--the alpaca.  It somewhat
resembles the sheep, but its neck is longer, and its head more
gracefully formed.  The wool appeared very long, soft, fine, and of a
silky lustre.  Some of those we saw were quite white, others black, and
others again variegated.  There were vast herds of them, tended by
Indians, as sheep are by their shepherds in other parts of the world.

The following day, descending from the plain and passing through a deep
valley, we caught sight of a herd of similar creatures, which Don Jose
told us were vicunas.  Their shape appeared slighter and more elegant
than that of the alpaca, with a longer and more graceful neck.  The
colour of the upper part of the body was a reddish yellow, while the
under side was of a light ochre.  A peculiar shrill cry reached our ears
as we approached, and the whole herd turned, advancing a few paces, and
then suddenly wheeling round, off they went at a rapid rate.  Don Jose
told us that they are hunted with the bolas, as cattle are in the
plains.  There is another animal, the huanacu, which is larger than the
llama, but resembles it greatly.  It is considered by some naturalists
to be a wild species of the llama.  Huanacus live in small troops.
Their disposition is very different from that of the llama.  Though
easily tamed when caught young, they can seldom be trained to carry
burdens.

John reminded me of an account he had read of the llama, which is
likened to the dromedary of the desert, the services it is called upon
to perform being similar.  Though it has not the ugly hump of the
dromedary, it possesses the same callosities on the breast and knees;
its hoof is divided in the same manner, and is of the same formation.
Its internal construction, which enables it to go for a long time
without drinking, is also similar.  It will carry about one hundred
pounds, and proceed at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles a day.  When
overloaded, however, it lies down, and nothing will induce it to rise
till it has been relieved of part of its cargo.

Llamas were the only beasts of burden employed by the ancient Peruvians.
Mules and horses were introduced by the Spaniards, and have now in many
places superseded the llamas, as mules will carry a much greater weight,
and are far more enduring and patient animals.



CHAPTER FOUR.

ADVENTURES AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.

We had been travelling on for many days, yet had made but slow progress.
This was not surprising, considering that we had to climb up steep
mountains and to descend again into deep valleys, to cross rapid streams
and wade through morasses, again to mount upwards and wind round and
round numberless rugged heights, with perpendicular precipices, now on
one side, now on the other, and gulfs below so profound that often our
eyes, when we unwisely made the attempt, could scarcely fathom them.
Still almost interminable ranges of mountains appeared to the east.  As
we looked back, we could see the lofty heights of Pichincha, Corazon,
Ruminagui, Cotopaxi, Antisana, and many others.

We had a mountain before us.  Our patient mules slowly climbed up it.
The summit reached, the ridge was so narrow that parts of the same rocks
might have been hurled, the one down into the valley towards the setting
sun, the other in the direction of the Atlantic.  We there stood fifteen
thousand feet at least above the ocean, our animals panting with the
exertion, and we ourselves, though inured to the air of the mountains,
breathing with difficulty.  Still before us there was a scene of wild
grandeur,--mountain rising beyond mountain, with deep valleys
intervening, their bottoms and sides clothed with a dense unbroken mass
of foliage.

"I fear beyond this we shall find no pathway for our mules," observed
Don Jose, as we were descending the height; "but we will endeavour to
procure bearers for the luggage, and will, in the meantime, encamp in
some sheltered spot, and try and ascertain in which direction my friend,
your father, and his party have gone."

We were nearly an hour descending, our mules carefully picking their way
among the rocks and lofty trees, and along the edges of yawning chasms,
which threatened to swallow us up.  Sometimes we passed through wooded
regions, where the giant trees, falling from age, remained suspended in
the network of sipos or wild vines, which hung from the branches of
their neighbours.  Now we had to make our way round the trunks, now to
pass beneath them.  As I looked up, I could not help dreading that the
cordage which held them might give way, and allow them to fall at that
instant and crush us.  At last we reached a level spot or terrace on the
mountain-side, but still the bottom of the valley seemed far down below
us.

"We will encamp here," said our friend, "and remain till we can
ascertain the direction we must pursue to come up with our friends.  We
are here above the damp and close air of the valley.  From yonder
torrent we can obtain the water we require," (he pointed to a cascade
which came rushing and foaming down, at a little distance, through a
cleft in the mountain), "while the forest around will afford an ample
supply of provision.  We are at such a distance from the usual track,
that we shall not, I hope, be discovered, should any of our enemies
venture in this direction."

John at once agreed to our friend's proposal.

"Our mules," continued Don Jose, "are of no further use, for it would be
almost impossible for them to make their way amid the tangled forest
through which we must pass.  We will therefore send them back to a
solitary rancho or farm, the proprietor of which is my friend, where
they will remain in safety till better times, when they can be forwarded
to their owners."

This plan being agreed on, the animals were unloaded, and our native
attendants set to work to build huts, which might afford us sufficient
shelter for the night.  We all helped; but we found that they were so
much more expert, that they had erected three huts while we had not
finished one.  Long stakes were first cut down.  Two of them were driven
into the ground and joined at their top, and about twelve feet beyond
them, other two were driven in, and connected by a long pole.  Against
this a number of stakes were arranged to serve as rafters.  Meantime a
quantity of large palm-leaves had been procured, which were attached to
the rafters by thin sipos or vines, beginning at the bottom, so that
they overlapped each other in the fashion of tiles.  They were so neatly
and securely fastened, that it was evident the heaviest shower would not
penetrate them.  In a short time we had seven or eight of these huts up,
sufficient to accommodate the whole of the party.  The natives then
descending into the forest, brought back a quantity of wood, which they
had cut from a tree which they called _sindicaspi_, which means the
"wood that burns."  We found it answer its character; for though it was
perfectly green, and just brought out of the damp forest, no sooner was
fire put to it than it blazed up as if it had been long dried in the
sun.

We were still at a considerable elevation, where there was but little of
animal life.  Even here, however, beautiful humming-birds flew among the
bushes.  They seemed very like the hill-stars we had seen at
Chimborazo--wonderful little feathered gems; but they flew so rapidly
about that it was difficult to distinguish their appearance.  Now a
gleam of one bright colour caught the eye, now another.  Now, as they
passed, all their hues were blended into one.

"I should so like to have some of those beautiful little creatures as
pets," said Ellen.  "I wonder if they could be tamed!"

"No doubt about it," said Don Jose.  "The difficulty is to catch them
first.  But, small as they are, they are in no degree timid; and if you
could take some of them young, you would find that they would willingly
feed off your hand; but, bold and brave, they love freedom, and will not
consent to live in captivity.  Perhaps Isoro may catch some for you.  He
knows all the birds and beasts of this region, and trees and herbs, as,
at one time, did all the people of our race.  The study of God's works
is a truly noble one, and such the enlightened Incas considered it; and
therefore it was the especial study of young chiefs in bygone days.
But, alas! in these times of our degeneracy, in that, as in many other
points, we are grievously deficient compared to our ancestors."

"Oh, thank you," said Ellen.  "I shall indeed be obliged to Isoro if he
can show me how to tame some of these beautiful little birds."

"I would rather have one of those fellows I see perched on yonder
pinnacle," observed Arthur, pointing to a rock at some distance, whence
a huge condor, with outspread wings, was about to take flight.  "What a
grand thing it would be to get on his back, and make him fly with one
over the mountain-tops.  He looks big and strong enough to do it."

"I am afraid that, with all his strength, he would find it a hard matter
to lift a heavy youth like you from the ground," observed Don Jose.
"Yet even a condor can be tamed, and if he is well fed, becomes
satisfied with his lot.  Large as he is, he is a mean creature, and a
coward."

While Don Jose was speaking, the condor came flying by.  Not a movement
of his wings was perceptible.  We hallooed and clapped our hands.

"He seems not to hear our voices," I observed.

"He is too far off for that," said our companion.  "Though we see him
clearly, he is at a greater distance than you suppose.  In this pure
atmosphere, objects appear much nearer than they really are; indeed,
even with long practice, it is difficult to ascertain distances by the
eye alone.  See there, on yonder slope!  It would take an active man an
hour or more to reach the height over which these vicunas are bounding,
and yet they seem almost within reach of our rifles."

He pointed to a shoulder of the mountain which projected some distance
into the valley, over which several animals were making their way,
scrambling up rocks which I should have thought the most agile deer
could scarcely have attempted to scale.

Isoro had received a hint from his master; and after being absent from
the camp for some time, returned with a beautiful little live bird,
which he presented, greatly to her delight, to Ellen.  Though its
bright, sharp specks of eyes were glancing about in every direction, it
remained quietly in her hand, without attempting to escape.  The greater
portion of its body was light green, bronzed on the side of the neck and
face, and the lower part of the back was of a deep crimson red.  The
wings were purple-brown, and the throat metallic green; but the tail was
its most remarkable feature.  That was very long, brown at the base, and
the greater part of its length of the brightest fiery red, tipped with a
velvety black band.

"Why, its tail is a perfect comet," exclaimed Ellen, who had been for
some time admiring it.

She had given it the name by which it is chiefly known--the Sappho
comet, or bar-tailed humming-bird.  It is a migratory bird, seldom,
however, found so far north.  It is a native of Bolivia, where it is
found in gardens, and near the abodes of men, of whom it seems to have
no fear.  In the winter it flies off to the warm regions of eastern
Peru, so Isoro told us.

"I am afraid that it will not live in captivity," he remarked.  "Shall I
kill it for you, senora?"

"Oh no! no!" exclaimed Ellen.  "On no account.  If I cannot make a pet
of it, I would not keep it even as an unwilling captive.  Pray, let it
go at once."

Isoro let the bird perch on his finger.  It looked about for an instant,
and then expanding its glossy wings, off it flew, its long tail gleaming
like a flash of lightning in the air, and was in an instant lost to
sight.  Isoro had, I believe, caught the little creature by the bill,
with a sort of bird-lime, placed in the lower part of a flower, where it
was held captive long enough to enable him to seize it.

We did not fail to keep up a large fire in the centre of our camp during
the night, lest any prowling puma might venture to pay us a visit.  The
warmth, also, which it afforded in that keen mountain air was grateful.

After Ellen and Maria had retired to their hut, which had been made as
comfortable for them as circumstances would allow, we sat up discussing
our plans.  I found that Don Jose and John had become anxious at not
finding our father.  Our friend had sent out several Indians in
different directions to search for him, with orders to come back to the
spot where we were now encamped.  I was surprised to find the influence
he possessed among all the natives we had met.

As soon as we had encamped, Isoro and two other Indians set off to
forage in the neighbourhood, as well as to obtain information.  They
came back late in the evening, driving before them three hogs, which
they had purchased at a native hut some distance off.  A pen was soon
built, in which to confine the animals: one of them was destined to be
turned into pork the following morning.  The mules had already been sent
away, and True and the pigs were the only four-footed animals in the
camp.

Our whole party had been for some time asleep, when I was aroused by a
horrible squeaking, followed by a loud bark from True, who was sleeping
under my hammock.  The squeaks and a few spasmodic grunts which
succeeded them soon ceased.  The voices of my companions outside the hut
showed me that they were on the alert; and knowing that True would
attack our visitor, whether puma or jaguar, I tied him to one of the
posts of the hut before I went out--a proceeding of which he did not at
all approve.

"Cuguacuara! cuguacuara!"  I heard the Indians exclaiming.

"A puma has carried off one of the hogs," said John, who appeared with
his gun ready for action.

"Where has it gone?"  I asked.

"That is what we are going to ascertain," he answered.

We set out with Don Jose, Isoro, and several of the Indians, the latter
armed only with their spears.  There was a bright moon, so we had no
great difficulty in seeing our way, though in that region of precipices
it was necessary to be cautious.  Isoro and the Indians led the way,
tracing the puma by the blood which their keen sight discovered on the
ground.  We had not gone far when they stopped and signified that the
beast was near.  Turning a point of rock, we saw before us, in a hollow
on the side of the mountain--a shallow cavern overgrown with shrubs,
into which the moon shone brightly--not only one, but two huge pumas,
the nearest with its paws on the hog it had just stolen.  We had formed
our camp close to their lair.  The savage brutes, thus brought to bay,
and unable to escape, snarled fiercely at us.  No animal is more hated
by the Indians than the puma, on account of the depredations it commits
on their flocks and herds.  They had little chance, therefore, of being
allowed to escape.  I expected, moreover, at any moment to see them
spring at us.

"Do you take the nearest," said Don Jose, calmly, to John; "I will take
the other.  Reserve your fire, Harry, in case one of them should
spring."

He and John fired.  The nearest puma gave a tremendous spring forward.
I had my weapon ready, and drew the trigger.  The bullet struck him,
and, first rising in the air, he fell backwards, and lay without moving.
The Indians rushed forward, and, with shouts of triumph, soon knocked
out any sparks of life which remained in the animals.  They then,
fastening some sipos round the bodies, dragged them and the hog to the
camp.

I had just time to measure one of them, before they were skinned and cut
up.  It had a body four feet in length; and a tail two and a half feet
long, black at the tip, but without the characteristic tuft of the lion.
Its limbs were very thick and muscular, to enable it to climb trees and
spring a great distance.  Its coat was of a light tawny tint, and of a
greyish-white below.

The Indians, delighted with their prize, sat up the rest of the night
cooking and eating the flesh, and telling anecdotes about the creatures.
The puma (_Leopardus concolor_) will seldom face a man when encountered
boldly.  It attacks his flocks, however; and hunts deer, vicunas,
llamas, and, indeed, all animals it meets with except its rival, the
jaguar.  It takes post on the branch of a tree, pressing itself so
closely along it as scarcely to be distinguished; and from thence
springs down on a passing deer or other animal, seizing it by the head,
which it draws back till the neck is broken.  I shall have by-and-by to
recount another adventure with pumas of a far more terrific character;
so will say no more about them at present, except that we found the
flesh very white, and much like veal.

We spent three days at the encampment.  At length one evening Don Jose
declared his intention of setting forth himself with Isoro.  I begged
that I might accompany him, and John also seemed anxious to go.

"No, Senor John," said our friend; "it is your duty to remain and take
care of your young sister.  But I will consent to take Harry with me,
and we will set forth to-morrow morning by daybreak.  John, Arthur, and
your servants will be sufficient to guard the camp; but do not move out
beyond the point which intervenes between this and the pass, lest you
may be perceived by any enemy travelling on it.  And let me advise you
also to be cautious how you receive any stranger who may perchance find
his way here.  At night be careful to keep a fire burning, and to set a
watch.  If you strictly follow my injunctions, I shall have no fear.  I
need not remind you of your young sister, whom it is your duty to watch
over; and the consequences to her, as indeed to us all, would be sad
through any carelessness."

John, though evidently disappointed, promised to follow our friend's
advice.  Next morning, even before the sun had risen above the tops of
the eastern mountains, while the valley was concealed by a dense mist,
which looked as if a sheet had been drawn across it, we were on foot,
and had finished breakfast.  Don Jose, Isoro, and I were each provided
with long, stout staves.  Our rifles were slung at our backs; wallets
containing our provisions were hung over our shoulders; and our feet
were shod with alpargates, which are sandals made of aloe fibres.  They
are invariably worn by the natives, as any ordinary boots would
immediately be cut to pieces by the rocky ground.  These, indeed, did
not last more than three or four days.  We had supplied ourselves,
however, with a considerable number at one of the last places at which
we had stopped, as well as with axes and wood-knives, and several other
articles which we should require in our journey through the forest.  We
had obtained also two bales of cloth, some clasp-knives, glass beads,
and trinkets, with which to pay the Indians for the services we might
require of them.

Ellen came out of her hut just as we were ready to start.  She seemed
very anxious when she heard that I was to be one of the party.  Don
Jose, however, assured her that he would run into no unnecessary danger,
and that our journey was absolutely necessary to ascertain whether our
father had passed by that way, or was still in the mountains behind us.
"I, too, am well acquainted with the country," he added; "and even
should any of our enemies come in this direction, I shall easily be able
to elude them."

I wished to take True with me; but Don Jose said that he would be of
more use at the camp,--that he might possibly betray us where we were
going, and insisted on his being left behind.  Poor fellow, he gazed
inquiringly into my face when I tied him up, to know why he was thus
treated, and seemed to say, I thought, "You know I shall watch over you
better than any one else, and you may be sorry you left me behind."  Our
friend was, however, so peremptory in the matter, that I was compelled
to yield to his wishes.

Bidding farewell to our friends, we took our way for some little
distance along the path we had come, and then, turning off, proceeded
northward, by which we should intersect, Don Jose said, another passage
across the mountains.  Had I not been in active exercise every day for
so long, I should have found great difficulty in scaling those mountain
heights; but my nerves were firm, and from so frequently looking down
precipices, I no longer felt any dizziness, even when standing on the
edge of the deepest.

We travelled on for several days--sometimes through forests, at others
along the bare mountain-sides, above the region of vegetation.  Some
nights were spent in huts, which we erected for ourselves, such as those
I have just described.  The natives, when we stopped at their abodes,
always received our friend with great respect and attention.  The
accommodation they could afford, however, was but scanty.  They were
built of reeds thatched with palm, and consisted of but one room.

I have not yet described the natives of this region.  They were of a
bronzed colour, with a sad and serious expression of countenance.  They
were seldom five feet high, and the women were even shorter.  They had
somewhat broad foreheads; their heads covered with thick, straight,
coarse, yet soft, jet-black hair, which hung down their backs.  Their
mouths were large, but their lips were not thicker than those of
Europeans, and their teeth were invariably fine.  They had large,
well-formed chins; cheek-bones rounded; their eyes somewhat small, with
black eyebrows; and little or no beard.  They had broad chests and
square shoulders, and well-made backs and legs, which showed the
strength possessed by them.  They were pleasant-looking people.  The men
wore a short kilt, with a poncho over their shoulders; the women, a
petticoat of larger dimensions.

They offered us, on entering their huts, cups of the _guayusa_ tea.  It
is an infusion of the large leaf of a tall shrub which grows wild in
that region.  We found it very refreshing: though not so powerful a
stimulant as coca, it supports the strength, as do the leaves of that
plant, and we found it enable us to go for a considerable time without
food.  The cleanest corner of the hut was assigned us for our
sleeping-place at night, with mats and dried leaves in the place of
mattresses.  Our friend made inquiries as to whether any white people
had passed in that direction; and, by his orders, the natives were sent
out to gain information.  I saw that he was uneasy, though he did not
explain to me the reason.

One morning we were on the point of again setting forward, when a
native, with a long mountain-staff in his hand, entered the hut.  He
exchanged a few words with Don Jose.

"We must hasten away, Harry," said our friend; "there is not a moment to
be lost.  The enemy have been tracking us, I find; but I trust that your
father has escaped them, and will ere long gain the banks of the Napo,
down which he may voyage to the Amazon.  We shall be able to reach the
same river by a longer route, along which there will be less fear of
being followed."

He made these remarks as we were throwing our wallets over our backs.
Taking our staves, he leading, we hurried from the hut, following a
narrow path which led up the side of the mountain.  We had approached
the hut by a lower and more frequented path than we were now taking; but
we were, I found, going in the direction from which we had come on the
previous day.  Don Jose went first, I followed, and Isoro brought up the
rear.  Though I exerted all my strength, I had some difficulty in
keeping up with my friend.  Anxious as I was to obtain more particulars
of what had occurred, we could not exchange words at the rate we were
going.  Every now and then, as we were climbing the cliffs, whenever I
happened to look back I saw Isoro turning an uneasy glance over his
shoulder.  It was evident that we were pursued.  We reached the edge of
a deep ravine, which appeared to bar our further progress.  Don Jose,
however, without making any remark, continued climbing on along it; and
at length I saw what appeared to be a rope stretched across the chasm.

"Hasten, master! hasten!"  I heard Isoro cry out: I knew enough of the
Quichua language to understand him.

We continued on till we reached the end of the rope, fastened to the
stump of a tree, and stretched across the chasm to the opposite side,
where it was secured in the same manner, a platform being raised to the
same elevation as the rock on which we stood.

"Harry," said my friend, turning to me for the first time, "I have seen
your nerves thoroughly tried, and I know your muscles are well-knit, or
I would not ask you to pass along this perilous bridge."

The rope was formed of the tough fibres of the maguey--an osier which
grows in the moist ground of that region.  It possesses a great degree
of tenacity and strength.

"Master, let me go first," exclaimed Isoro, springing forward.  "If it
breaks with me it will matter little, and you will have still a chance
for life."

Without waiting for Don Jose's answer, Isoro threw himself upon the
rope, and, holding on by hands and feet, began to work himself along.  I
watched him anxiously.  It was indeed a fearful mode of crossing that
awful gulf; and yet I knew that I must pass as he was doing.  I was
thankful that the distance was not great, at all events.  I breathed
more freely when at length I saw him alight on the platform.  I
entreated Don Jose to go next.  "It will give me more courage," I said.
"As you wish," he replied.  "Let me caution you, only before I go, to
shut your eyes, and not to think of the gulf below you.  You will then
find the passage perfectly easy."

Saying this, he took hold of the rope, and began to work his way across.
Scarcely, however, had he got into the centre, when I saw Isoro
pointing in the direction we had come from.

"Hasten! hasten!" he shouted out.

I looked round, and caught sight of two enormous hounds approaching at
full speed.  I could hear their loud, baying voices as they came on
panting up the mountain-side.  I did not hesitate a moment, when urged
by Isoro to cross at once.  "The rope will bear you," he shouted
out--"not a moment is to be lost!"

Seizing the rope, I shut my eyes and began the awful passage; for awful
it was, as, in spite of my resolution, I could not help thinking of the
deep chasm over which I was making my way.  I should be unwilling again
to attempt so fearful a passage; and yet, perhaps, once accustomed to
it, I should have thought nothing of the undertaking.  I was surprised
when I felt my friend take my arm.

"You are safe," he said; "lower your feet;"--and I found myself standing
on the platform.

On opening my eyes, and looking towards the cliff from which we had
come, I saw two huge blood-hounds, with open mouths, baying at us.
Isoro, I should have said, had taken my rifle as well as his own, and
placed it against the tree.

"We must get rid of these animals," said Don Jose, "or they will betray
the road we have taken."

Saying this, he levelled his piece, and one of the dogs, as it sprung
forward on receiving the bullet, fell over the chasm into the depths
below.  Isoro followed his master's example.  His bullet took effect;
but the blood-hound, though wounded, was not killed outright, and
retreated a few paces.  I was afraid he would have escaped; but before
he had gone far, he fell over, and after a few struggles, was dead.

"The animal must not remain there," observed Isoro, throwing himself
upon the rope; and in a few minutes he had again crossed the chasm.

Seizing the dog by the legs, he drew it to the edge, and hurled it after
its companion.  Then, searching about in the crevices of the rocks for
moss and lichens, he strewed them over the ground where the dog had
fallen, so as to obliterate the traces of blood.  He was some time thus
occupied before he had performed the operation to his satisfaction; and
then he once more crossed the chasm, with as much unconcern as if he had
been passing along an ordinary road.  I proposed letting go the rope to
prevent our pursuers following.

"That is not necessary," said Don Jose.  "It would cause trouble to our
friends, and I doubt whether our enemies will venture to cross.  At all
events, the so doing would betray the route we have taken, and they may
find the means of crossing some leagues further down the stream."

We accordingly proceeded as before.  We now came to a track, which, had
I been alone, I could not have followed, as it was generally, to my
eyes, altogether undistinguishable; yet Don Jose and Isoro traced it
without difficulty.  It now led us along the edge of a precipice, where,
it seemed to me, so narrow was the space between the cliff on one side
and the fearful gulf on the other, that we could not possibly get by.
Our leader, however, went on without hesitation.  At length he appeared
to reflect that my nerves might not be as firm as his.

"Here, Harry," he said, "take hold of the centre of my staff; Isoro will
hold the other end, and you may pass without risk."

I did as he directed, keeping my eyes away from the gulf as much as
possible.  Now and then the path became somewhat wider; then again it
narrowed, affording just space to support our feet.  I leaned against
the cliff, unwilling to throw more weight than I could possibly help on
the staff.  I breathed more freely when we were once more ascending the
mountain-side.  We were making our way round a rugged point of rock, and
Don Jose's head had just risen above it, when he called to us to stop.

"I see some people coming this way," he observed.  "They may be friends,
but they may be foes.  Harry, I am sorry to have exposed you to this
danger; for it is me they seek, not you.  However, they have not seen
us, and we have yet time to conceal ourselves.  Fortunately I know of a
place near here where we shall be able to do so; and unless yonder band
have these savage blood-hounds with them, we may yet escape capture."

Saying this, he began rapidly to ascend the mountain-side among the wild
and rugged rocks with which it was covered.  After climbing up for some
distance, we saw before us a small opening in the rocks.

"This is the spot I was seeking," observed our friend; "and unless it is
known to our pursuers, we shall here remain in security till they have
passed by."

He leading the way, we all entered the cavern.  It soon opened out into
a large chamber with rugged sides.  The passage to it also had several
buttresses or projecting rocks, behind which we might take post, and
could have fired down without being seen on any one approaching.  From
the entrance, also, we could watch the pathway by which we had come; and
it was so small and overgrown with shrubs that it could not be perceived
at any distance.  Don Jose told me to climb up behind one of the rocks,
while he and Isoro took post behind others.  So completely were they
concealed, that I could not discover where they were except by their
voices.  We waited anxiously, till at length a band of armed men was
seen winding round the hill.  Already they had passed under the cave.

"We might follow, and without difficulty hurl every one of those fellows
into the abyss below," observed Don Jose.  "But we will spare them; they
obey but the orders of their superiors."

After waiting a little time longer, Don Jose emerged from the cavern,
and looking about, told us that the road was clear.  We accordingly
descended, though it required great caution to avoid making a rapid
descent into the deep ravine below us.  For the greater part of the day
we continued toiling on, supported by the coca with which we
occasionally replenished our mouths.  At length, towards evening, we
made our way to a native hut, where we were received as usual.  Here
hammocks were slung for us between the pole on which the roof rested,
our hosts undertaking to keep careful watch to prevent surprise.

I had become very anxious about the rest of our party, fearing that they
might have been discovered.  At the end of two more days I recognised
the features of the spot where we had left them.  No one was to be seen.
My heart sank.  Had they been seized and carried off to Quito, or had
they made their escape?  Great was my satisfaction when, on rounding a
rocky point, I caught sight of the huts, and saw Arthur running towards
us.  "We are all well--very thankful to see you return!" he exclaimed,
"for we began to fear that you might have been lost."  Directly
afterwards John and Ellen emerged from their huts, and now all the party
were gathered round us.  Poor dear Ellen welcomed me with tears in her
eyes.  Her spirits revived when Don Jose told her he had reason to
believe that our parents were in safety.  True could not restrain his
joy, but kept leaping up and licking my hands and face, and jumping
round and round me.  Wherever I went he closely followed, determined not
again to lose sight of me.  At supper he sat by my side watching my
face, nor would he leave me even though John and Arthur tried to tempt
him away with offers of bits of pork or parrots' legs.

All the party were eager to set out at once, but it was necessary before
we could do so to procure bearers to convey our luggage along the long
and intricate path we had to take through the forest.  This our friend
undertook to do by the following day from a village at no great distance
off.

The next morning a dozen stout natives--young, active men--made their
appearance.  They all had at their backs large baskets bound by withes
passing across the forehead and chest.  They were but lightly clothed.
A small poncho covered their shoulders, and the usual cloth and kilt was
worn round the loins, a wisp of leaves preventing their backs being
chafed by their burdens.  Each man also carried a long staff in his
hand, and a bag of roasted corn as provision for the journey.  The
burdens were soon adjusted.  One of them had a sort of chair at his
back, which Don Jose had ordered to carry the senora, as Ellen was
denominated.  She insisted, however, that she was well able to walk, and
not without difficulty we persuaded her to take advantage of the
conveyance which had been provided.

We forthwith set out, and descending the mountain, were soon in the
midst of the thick forest.  Two of the Indians, who carried lighter
burdens than the rest, went ahead with axes in their hands to clear the
way.  It was extraordinary with what rapidity they cut through the
sipos, or hanging vines, which threw their serpent-like coils from tree
to tree.  So quick is their growth in that moist region, that other
travellers following in a few weeks would have to perform the same
operation, our friend told us.  As we advanced the forest became thicker
and thicker, the dark foliage forming a lofty vault through which no
sunlight can ever enter.  The air felt cool and excessively damp,
compared to the exposed sides of the mountains.  A constant mist seemed
to hang on the branches.  Not a sound was to be heard; scarcely a bird
did we see in the swampy shades.  The stillness and gloom, indeed,
became almost painful.  From the lofty trees hung down thousands of
lianas, or air-roots, some forming thick festoons, others perfectly
straight, of all lengths, many reaching almost down to our heads, others
again touching the ground and taking root in the soft earth.  Here and
there some giant of the forest, decayed by age, had fallen, to remain
suspended in the loops of the sipos.  Thus we went on, following in
Indian file.  I kept near Ellen to cheer her up, while True followed
close at my heels, every now and then licking my hands and jumping up,
as if to ask me what I thought of the strange region we had entered.  We
found it rather difficult to converse.  Sometimes we walked on for a
considerable distance in silence.

We had thus been progressing for some time, the only sound heard being
that of our footsteps on the rustling leaves, or that produced by the
sharp axes of our pioneers, when suddenly our ears were startled by a
loud crash, which, contrasted with the previous silence, made it seem as
if the whole forest was coming down together.  Ellen gave way to a
slight cry of alarm.  "Do not be afraid, my young friends!" shouted Don
Jose.  "It is only an ancient tree, weary of standing so long."  In a
short time the crashing sound ceased, and directly afterwards we came in
sight of a vast trunk, which had fallen across the path we were about to
pass along.  We had to make a circuit therefore to avoid it.  We could
not but feel thankful that it had not delayed its fall till we were
passing beneath, although we might possibly have had time to escape, in
consequence of its being upheld for a few seconds by the sipos, till its
vast weight had dragged them down.



CHAPTER FIVE.

THE RIVER REACHED AT LAST.

We were not yet free of the mountains, for numerous spurs of the mighty
Andes run eastward, between which the many streams proceeding from their
snow-capped heights make their way towards the Amazon.  Once more we
were compelled to ascend a steep height, and then to proceed along the
ridge for a considerable distance; then again we descended, to find at
the bottom a roaring torrent.  This had to be crossed.

The huge trunk of a tree had been placed by the natives over the deeper
part, resting on the rocks on either side.  The water hissed and bubbled
round it, threatening every instant to carry it away.  Isoro, however,
urged us to cross without delay.  He observed signs in the west, among
the mountains, of a coming storm, he said, and should it break before we
were safe on the other side, we should be prevented from crossing
altogether.  Still, as we looked at the frail bridge, John and I were
very unwilling to expose Ellen to the risk she must run.  At length Don
Jose ordered the Indians to form a long rope of sipos, and to stretch it
across the stream, that it might assist to steady the bearers on their
passage.  This caused some delay.  "Hasten! hasten!" cried Isoro.  "I
hear a sound which tells me that the waters are coming down!"

Don Jose on this led the way.  Arthur kept close to him.  I followed
with True in my arms, for I had taken him up for fear of his being
carried away by the current.  Ellen's bearer same next.  John walked
close behind her, to render her assistance should it be required.  With
one hand I grasped the long sipo, with the other I kept tight hold of
True.  The rest had the advantage of being able to steady themselves
with their poles.  Domingos assisted Maria.  The water, even before we
reached the trunk, came roaring and hissing down round our legs, and I
had some difficulty in stemming the current.  I was thankful when our
leader reached the trunk, and began his passage over it.  I found it,
however, very slippery with the spray which broke over it.  I dared not
look back to see how it fared with Ellen.  I heard her voice, however,
as she cried out, "Do not be afraid, Harry; my bearer steps firmly, and
I am looking up at the blue sky and the waving tops of the tall trees; I
do not feel any alarm."  Still there was a wide extent of bubbling water
to be crossed beyond the end of the slippery trunk, and I could hear the
loud roar of the waters which came down from the mountains through the
ravine.  I saw Don Jose hastening on, and more than once he turned and
beckoned us to proceed more rapidly.  The end of the bridge was reached.
Arthur hesitated to leap into the boiling water.  Don Jose turned round
and seized his hand and led him on.  I followed.  It seemed that every
instant the depth of the water was increasing.  I trembled for Ellen's
safety, and yet could not venture to look back to ascertain how it was
faring with her.  I thought too of John, Maria, Domingos, and our
Indians.  The danger for those who came last would be greatly increased.
Had it not been for the sipo, I could scarcely have kept my footing.
Now I was wading up to my middle, now climbing over a rock worn smooth
by the never-resting waters.  The water was here somewhat shallower.  I
looked round.  Ellen's bearer was following with firm steps, and was
close behind me.  "On! on!" cried John.  Our leader was already near the
edge, and I hoped we should soon be in safety, when I heard Ellen utter
a shriek of terror.  I sprang on to the bank.  Her bearer followed.  She
had not been alarmed on her own account; but now looking across the
stream, I saw the bearers following closely on each other, pressing
along the bridge.  From above the water, in a vast foaming volume, was
coming rushing down, roaring loudly.  John turned round, and taking
Maria's hand, assisted her up the bank.  Domingos clambered after her.
Our peons came close together behind.  One man was still on the bridge,
when the torrent, striking it with fearful force, lifted it off the
rock, and away it went wheeling downwards.  The peon kept his footing
for an instant, then, as it began to turn over, he sprang off it towards
the shore; but unable to disengage himself from his burden, he was borne
downwards amid the tossing waters.  The Indians ran down the bank to try
and render him assistance.  John and I followed, with Don Jose, who
seemed unusually agitated.  Now we saw the man clutching hold of a rock;
soon again he was torn off, and went floating downwards.  Still he
struggled on bravely, making his way towards the shore.  I expected
every moment to see him give up the unequal contest, for the mighty
waters seemed to have him in their grasp.  Fortunately the bundle he
carried was large, and though heavy out of the water, was light in it,
and instead of sinking, assisted to float him.

John and I continued to make our way along the banks with the rest.  We
had got some distance down, when we saw what appeared to be an eddy or
backwater in the river.  Below it the stream rushed on with the same
impetuosity as before.  I called to John.  "I think we may save him," I
said; and signed to the Indians to cut some long sipos which hung down
from the branches above us.  Several flexible ones were speedily cut and
fastened together.  Both John and I were good swimmers.  He secured one
to his waist, as did I, signing to the Indians to hold the other ends.
Then we dashed into the stream, swimming out towards the struggling
Indian.  In another moment he would have been carried by us.  I reached
him just as I was at the extreme end of the sipo.  John seized his arm
directly afterwards, and together we towed him towards the bank, calling
to the Indians to haul the sipo gently in.  Soon reaching the bank, we
dragged up our nearly drowned companion.  Not till then did we discover
that he was Isoro, who, it appeared, had taken the load of a sick bearer
unable to carry it.

Isoro, as soon as he had recovered sufficiently to speak, thanked us
warmly for preserving his life.  Don Jose, who had come up, also added
his thanks.  "I value him much," he observed, "and should have grieved
deeply had he lost his life."

We had little time for talking, however, for we had to hurry back to
where we had left our companions, as the storm which had been brewing in
the mountains now threatened to break over our heads.  Our party,
therefore, piling up their loads, made haste to erect some sheds similar
to those we had already several times built.  A quantity of the
_sindicaspi_, or "wood that burns," was speedily cut, and fires were
lighted, at which we dried our drenched clothes.  Scarcely had our
preparations been made, when the threatening storm burst over us, the
wind howling and whistling through the trees, which waved to and fro,
making a loud rustling sound; while every now and then we could hear the
crashing noise of some patriarch of the forest, as it sank beneath the
blast.  The rain came in torrents, and the river, surging and swelling,
rapidly increased its breadth.  We had indeed reason to be thankful that
we had not delayed our crossing a moment longer.  Our fires were soon
put out, and water came rushing down on either side of us through the
forest.  We, however, had chosen a slightly elevated spot for our camp,
which, though surrounded by water, had hitherto escaped destruction.
The rain continuing to pour down in a perfect deluge, compelled us to
remain in our camp.  So secure, however, had the roofs been made, that
we kept dry inside.  Occasionally John, Arthur, and I ran into Ellen's
hut to pay her a visit.  We found her and Maria sitting very composedly,
employing themselves with their work, which they produced from one of
the bundles they had unpacked.  Don Jose remained in his hut, attended
by Isoro.  He was much more out of spirits than we had yet seen him.

"My young friends," he said, "I must soon bid you farewell.  I had
resolved to accompany you till I could see you embarked on the river.
We shall reach it, I hope, in three or four days at furthest, but I
cannot be longer absent from my people in these troubled times.  I hope
that you will soon overtake your father and family, who, from the
accounts I have received, intend to wait for you at the mouth of the
river, where it joins the Amazon.  Though I must return, Isoro has
expressed a wish to accompany you.  You will find his assistance of
value, as he has been among the wild tribes you will encounter on your
passage, and knows their habits and customs.  They are very different
from the people you have hitherto met, and may give you much annoyance,
unless cautiously dealt with."

We were very sorry to hear of Don Jose's intention of leaving us, as we
had hoped that he intended to accompany us till we could overtake our
father, though we were greatly obliged to him for his proposal of
allowing Isoro to remain with us.

Once more, the clouds clearing away, we proceeded on our journey.  We
made, however, but slow progress, as in many places the sipos which had
overgrown the path had to be cut way to allow of our passage through the
forest.  I can scarcely attempt to convey in words an idea of the dense
mass of foliage amid which we had to force our way.  Vast roots like
huge snakes ran out over the ground in all directions, their upper parts
forming huge buttresses to the giant stems.  Then large ferns shot
upwards, while a thick network of vines hung festooned in every possible
form above our heads, many hanging down straight to the ground, while
numberless curious air-plants hung suspended from the branches.  Now and
then gaily-plumaged birds were seen flitting amid the thick shade; but
we were surprised at the paucity of animal life which existed.  Not a
quadruped was to be seen.  A few monkeys and parrots were occasionally
heard, though rarely caught sight of.  We had numerous streams to cross;
often, indeed, the same stream to cross several times.  Frequently the
passage was almost as dangerous as that I have described.  Sometimes we
stopped at the huts of the natives, where we were as usual well
received.  They were built of bamboo, fastened together with lianas or
sipos, the roofs covered with large palm-leaves.  They willingly
supplied us with such provisions as they possessed.  The chief article
was _yuca_ flour, with which we made cakes.  It is the beet-like root of
a small tree about ten feet high.  When not hunting, the men appeared to
spend their time in idleness.  The women, however, were occasionally
employed in manufacturing a thread called _pita_ from the leaves of the
aloe, which they carry to Quito for sale.  Occasionally the men
collected vanilla.  It is a graceful climber, belonging to the orchid
family.  The stalk, the thickness of a finger, bears at each joint a
lanceolate and ribbed leaf a foot long and three inches broad.  It has
large star-like white flowers, intermixed with stripes of red and
yellow, which fill the forest with delicious odours.  They are succeeded
by long slender pods, containing numerous seeds imbedded in a thick oily
balsamic pulp.  The seeds, which are highly esteemed, are used for
flavouring chocolate and other purposes.  Monkeys are very fond of them,
and pick all they find, so that few are left on the wild plants for
man's use.  Vanilla is, however, cultivated in Mexico and other parts of
the world.  The Indians also collected copal.  It is a gum which exudes
from a lofty leguminous tree, having a bark like that of the oak.

However, I must hurry on with an account of our journey.  When we met
with no habitations on our way, we were compelled to build sheds in the
driest and most open spots we could find.  At length, through an arched
opening in the forest, the bright sheen of water caught our eyes, and
hurrying on, we found ourselves standing on the bank of a stream, which
opened up to us a watery highway to the Atlantic.

Still, we were well aware that we had many dangers to encounter.  For
many hundred leagues we could not hope to meet with Europeans, and
although the natives among whom we had hitherto travelled had been
friendly, we knew that numerous tribes existed along the banks of the
Amazon or its tributaries, who might prove hostile to strangers.  Our
chief anxiety, however, was about our father and mother.  When we might
once more meet, we could not tell.  Still we felt sure that they would
not willingly proceed till we had overtaken them.

We had arrived at a part of the river at a distance from any native
village.  We had therefore to depend on ourselves for the means of
making our intended voyage.  We were prepared, however, to build canoes
of sufficient size for the accommodation of our reduced party.
Accordingly we set to work to erect huts of a more substantial character
than those we had hitherto built, in which we might live in some degree
of comfort till the work was accomplished.  With the assistance of our
bearers, in a few hours we had a good-sized hut of bamboos put up, and
strongly thatched with palm-leaves.  One portion was walled in with a
division forming two apartments.  The larger was devoted to the
accommodation of Ellen and her sable attendant.  In the other, our goods
were stored; while the rest of us slung our hammocks in a large open
verandah, which formed, indeed, the greater part of the building.  It
was completed before nightfall.  In front, between us and the river, a
large fire was made up, which, fed by a peculiar kind of wood growing
near, kept alight for many hours without being replenished.

We were seated at our evening meal, when we heard footsteps rapidly
approaching, and an Indian appeared and saluted Don Jose.  He was a
stranger, and had evidently been travelling rapidly.  Presenting a
packet, he sank down on the ground with fatigue.  A cup of _guayusa_ tea
soon revived him.  Don Jose meantime opened his packet, and hastily read
the contents.

"My young friends," he said, "I regret that I must immediately bid you
farewell.  I cannot longer be absent from my people.  I know not what
may occur; but if their leaders are away, they will have no hope of
obtaining their freedom.  Your father, however, was right to escape from
the country.  I am thankful to say that I can give you tidings of him.
He has reached the mouth of the Napo in safety, and is there encamped,
awaiting your arrival.  Here, John, is a missive your father desires me
to deliver to you."

Our friend handed my brother a note written hurriedly in pencil.  It ran
thus: "The messenger is about to leave, so I must be brief.  We are all
well, and purpose waiting your arrival on this healthy spot, near the
mouth of the Napo.  You will without difficulty find it, though we shall
be on the watch for all canoes coming down the stream.  Pass two rivers
on your left hand, then a high bluff of red clay interspersed with
stripes of orange, yellow, grey, and white.  Proceed another league,
till you pass, on a low point, a grove of bamboos.  Rounding it, you
will find a clear spot on a low hill overlooking the stream.  It is
there I have fixed our temporary abode."

"Oh, surely there will be no difficulty in finding them!" exclaimed
Ellen.  "I wish that the canoes were ready--or could we not set off by
land?"

"I fear that you would have to encounter many difficulties," observed
Don Jose, "if you were to make the attempt.  I must counsel patience,
the most difficult of all virtues.  I wish that I could accompany you--
or, at all events, remain till the canoes are ready; but you will find
Isoro a skilful builder, and I will direct him to procure the assistance
of some of the natives of this region, who will afterwards act as your
crew, and navigate your canoes as far as they can venture down the
river.  After that, Isoro will return with them, as I am afraid that I
could not induce him to remain away longer from me, though I would
gladly let him accompany you if he would.  Still I hope that you will
have no great difficulty in accomplishing the short remainder of your
voyage till you find your father and the rest of your family."

John and I thanked Don Jose again and again for the aid he had afforded
us, and the sacrifices he had made on our account.

"Do not speak of them, my young friends," he replied.  "I owe much to
your father; and we are united by ties of which he, perhaps, will some
day tell you."

We wished that our friend would explain himself more clearly, but he
evidently did not intend to do so, and we therefore could not attempt to
press the point.  We sat up talking for some time before we turned into
our hammocks.

Our hut was romantically situated.  Before us flowed the rapid river; on
either side rose the thick forest of palms and other trees, round the
stems of which circled many a creeper, hanging in festoons from the
branches overhead.  In the far distance towered the outer range of those
lofty mountains we were leaving, perhaps for ever; while round us were
scattered the temporary wigwams which our attendants had put up for
themselves.  The never-ceasing murmur of the waters tended to lull us to
sleep in spite of the strange sounds which ever and anon came from the
forest, caused by tree-toads and crickets; while occasionally owls,
goat-suckers, and frogs joined in the concert with their hooting,
wailing, and hoarse croaks.  My faithful dog True had taken up his usual
place at night below my hammock.  Suddenly I was awaked by hearing him
utter a loud bark; and looking down, I saw by the fire, which was still
burning brightly, a huge alligator poking his snout into the verandah,
having evidently climbed up the bank with the intention of making a meal
off the dog, or, perhaps, off one of the sleeping natives.  True stood
bravely at bay, barking furiously, and yet refusing to retreat.  Leaping
from my hammock, I seized a log, and dashed it in the huge saurian's
face.  All the party were speedily on foot.  Isoro and Domingos came
rushing forward with their long poles to attack the monster; while John,
seizing his gun, fired at its head: The ball, however, glanced off its
scaly coat.  The reptile, finding itself disappointed of its expected
feast, and that the odds were against it, retreated, and finally fell
over with a loud plash into the stream.  The incident warned us of the
midnight visitors we might expect, and of the necessity of keeping a
watch when sleeping near the river's bank.  The fire was made up afresh.
We were all soon again asleep, with the exception of one of the men,
who was directed by Don Jose to keep watch for the remainder of the
night.

The next morning our kind friend bade us farewell, and, accompanied by
the bearers, took his way through the forest to the Andes.  We saw him
go with great regret.  We remembered the dangers he would have to
encounter, and we felt how probable it was that we should never again
see him.  Our party now consisted of Ellen, Maria, John, Arthur and I,
Domingos and Isoro.  John and I had our rifles; and Domingos a brace of
long horse-pistols, which he took from his holsters when the mules were
sent back; with a fair supply of ammunition.  We had axes, and a few
other tools for building our canoe; a stock of provisions, which had
been carefully husbanded; and some bales of cotton and other articles
with which to repay the natives for their services, or to purchase food.
Isoro was armed with a long bow and spear, and Arthur was anxious to
provide himself with similar weapons.

As soon as Don Jose had gone, Isoro set out according to his directions
to find some natives.  We were still, it will be remembered, within
Peruvian territory; and although but slight communication was kept up
with the natives of the scattered villages, yet the Spaniards had for
some years past made their power felt, as the Incas had done in former
ages, even in these remote districts.  Isoro said he had therefore no
fear of being ill-treated by any of the natives he might encounter.

As soon as breakfast was over, while John and Domingos remained at the
hut, assisting Ellen and Maria to overhaul and re-arrange our goods,
Arthur and I strolled out to try and shoot some birds.  We had not gone
far when we heard, at a little distance off, some loud, shrill, yelping
cries.  I was sure they were produced by birds, yet Arthur could
scarcely believe it.  The noises came, it seemed, from above our heads.
Looking up, we at length caught sight of several large birds, perched on
the higher branches above us, with enormous bills.  We approached
cautiously, hiding ourselves underneath some wide palm-leaves, between
which we could observe the noisy assemblage.  The birds seemed to be
shouting out "To-o-cano, to-o-cano," and it is on this account that the
Indians give them the name from which we derive that of toucans.  One
was perched above the rest, and he kept bending his neck downwards, and
looking about in the most knowing way, as if to ascertain 

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