yelids, and I began to lose my senses. I should have fallen
from my mule had not Manco lifted me off. A grey mist floated before my
eyes, and I could neither see, hear, nor feel distinctly. Manco sat
down, and took my head in his lap; when after a time I began to recover,
and I saw that he was anxiously looking at a dense mass of clouds
gathering above us.

"Up, up, my friend, and mount if you value your life!" he said. "You
are better now. A storm is about to burst, and we must face it boldly."

Scarcely had he spoken, when, loud peals of thunder were heard, and
lightning darted from the skies. Down, too, came the snow in flakes, so
heavy that it was impossible to see many yards before us.

"We must push on," observed Manco. "We have lost much time already, and
night will overtake us before we can reach the nearest village." The
snow, however, fell faster, and completely concealed all signs of the
path. "When the snow-storm has ceased, I shall easily find the way by
the flight of the birds we are certain to see," he continued. "So, fear
not. You are suffering from the keen air of the mountains, and you will
quickly recover when we begin to descend to lower ground."

Even his sagacity was at fault, and we soon found that we had wandered
from the right path. As I did not grow worse, I kept up my spirits.
Two or three hours passed away, and the snow ceased. It had scarcely
done so, when the clouds opened, and the bright glance of the burning
sun burst forth dazzlingly on the white expanse of snow before me. In a
moment I felt my eyes stricken with almost total blindness. A cry of
horror escaped me. I fancied that I should not recover. Manco tried to
console me, assuring me that I was merely suffering from the _surumpe_,
a common complaint in those regions.

"I ought to have guarded you against it," he said. "Strangers
unaccustomed to the sight of the glittering snow constantly suffer from
it; but it will soon pass away."

I, however, thought differently, though I was unwilling to complain to
him. We went on as fast as we could; but the sun set when we were still
a long way from the edge of the plain. We had with difficulty avoided
several swamps, in which he had told me animals and men were sometimes
lost. They are the chief dangers of that region. Fortunately, he
recognised a range of lofty rocks near us.

"There is a cavern within them not far off, where we must rest for the
night," he said.