t would be impossible to quit Manapuri, he went on to
say that a small party of Indians was now in the settlement; that they
had come, not only to trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who
was his wife, purchased some years ago from her father. "And the money
she cost me I have never regretted to this day," said he, "for she is a
good wife not jealous," he added, with a curse on all the others. These
Indians came all the way from the Queneveta mountains, and were of the
Maquiritari tribe. He, Panta, and, better still, his good wife would
interest them on my behalf, and for a suitable reward they would take me
by slow, easy stages to their own country, where I would be treated well
and recover my health.

This proposal, after I had considered it well, produced so good an
effect on me that I not only gave a glad consent, but, on the following
day, I was able to get about and begin the preparations for my journey
with some spirit.

In about eight days I bade good-bye to my generous friend Panta, whom I
regarded, after having seen much of him, as a kind of savage beast that
had sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue from death; for we
know that even cruel savage brutes and evil men have at times sweet,
beneficent impulses, during which they act in a way contrary to their
natures, like passive agents of some higher power. It was a continual
pain to travel in my weak condition, and the patience of my Indians
was severely taxed; but they did not forsake me; and at last the entire
distance, which I conjectured to be about sixty-five leagues, was
accomplished; and at the end I was actually stronger and better in
every way than at the start. From this time my progress towards complete
recovery was rapid. The air, with or without any medicinal virtue blown
from the cinchona trees in the far-off Andean forest, was tonic; and
when I took my walks on the hillside above the Indian village, or later
when able to climb to the summits, the world as seen from those
wild Queneveta mountains had a largeness and varied glory of scenery
peculiarly refreshing and delightful to the soul.

With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, and the sweet sensations
of returning health made me happy for a time; but such sensations seldom
outlast convalescence. I was no sooner well again than I began to feel
a restless spirit stirring in me. The monotony of savage life in this
place became intolerable. After my long listless period the react