shrine without raising your sombrero they would
be ready to tear you in pieces as a heretic."

"What is the country like when you once get over the mountains?"

"It is a tree country and generally flat. Here you see the hillsides are
mostly bare; but on the other side of the ranges of mountains--for there
are two chains--the forest grows almost to the top, and, as I have heard,
they extend thousands of miles over the country beyond. In these great
forests there are swamps and rivers, great rivers. Very few white men know
where they rise or how they go, but they all run into the largest of them
all, which, when it gets near the sea, is called the Amazon, but which has
many names at different points of its course. They say that some of these
rivers have many rapids and falls, and on almost all of them there are
Indians who are more dangerous still; some of them they say eat men who
fall into their hands.

"It is a terrible journey that you are undertaking, senor. One thing is
certain, you must take with you some man of courage and resolution, one
who at least knows something of the country. No man knows much, but there
are men, Indians, who make it their business either to trade or to guide
traders. Of course they never go very far, but they have gone far enough
to know much of the nature of the dangers and difficulties."

"Do you think that you would be able to find me such a man?"

"There are many," the muleteer said; "but it is not everyone that can be
trusted. I know of one man who, if he happened to be at home and
disengaged, would suit you well if he would undertake such a journey. He
would go if anyone would, for no dangers terrify him, and he has made,
before now, perilous expeditions with officers and others who have sought
to discover the sources of the rivers. He lives in a village but a few
miles from the summit of the pass, and if you have not as yet decided on
your route, he will at any rate, if he cannot go himself, give you better
advice than you can obtain from anyone else I know of."

They passed through the city of Lima unnoticed. There were still numbers
of people in the streets, and the sound of musical instruments came from
the open windows. Parties of ladies stood on the balconies and were
enjoying the coolness of the night air, and it was evident that Lima had
no thoughts of going to bed for a long time yet.

"You would hardly see a soul in the streets while the sun is high," the
muleteer sai