umber of babbling
streams--each of which gave new occasion for the colonel to show his
ingenuity in getting over dry shod, and so sparing his threatening
rheumatism--the cry of "Sausipata!" was uttered by Pepe Garcia. Two neat
mud cabins, each provided with a door furnished with the unusual luxury
of a wooden latch, marked the plantation of Sausipata. The situation was
level, and within the enclosing walls of the forest could be seen a
plantation of bananas, a field of sugar-cane, with groves of coffee,
orange-orchards and gardens of sweet potato and pineapple. The white
visitors could not refrain from an exclamation of surprise at the
neatness and civilization of such an Eden in the desert. At this point,
Juan of Aragon, who had been going on ahead, turned around with an air
of splendid welcome, and explained that the farm belonged to his uncle,
the gobernador of Marcapata, who prayed them to make themselves at home.
Introducing his guests into the largest of the houses, Juan presented
them with some fine ripe fruit which he culled from the garden. Colonel
Perez, who never lost occasion to give a sly stab to the mozo, asked, as
he peeled a banana, if he was duly authorized to dispose so readily of
the property of his uncle: the youth, without losing a particle of his
magnificent adolescent courtesy, replied that as nephew and direct heir
of the governor of Marcapata it was a right which he exercised in
anticipation of inheritance; and that just as Pepe Garcia, the
interpreter-in-chief, had regaled the party in his residence, he, Juan
of Aragon, proposed to do in the family grange of Sausipata.

Meantime, the examinador, who had pushed forward with his men, returned
with a couple more specimens of quinquina, which they had discovered
close by in clambering amongst the forest. Neither had flowers, but the
one was recognizable by its flat leaf as the species called by the
Indians _ichu-cascarilla,_ from the grain _ichu_ amongst which it is
usually found at the base of the Cordilleras; and the other, from its
fruit-capsules two inches in length, as the _Cinchona acutifolia_ of
Ruiz and Pavon. To moderate the pleasures of this discovery, the
examinador came up leaning upon the shoulder of his principal assistant,
Eusebio, complaining of a frightful headache, and a weakness so extreme
that he could not put one foot before the other.

The sudden illness of their botanist-in-chief cast a gloom upon the
party, and utterly spoi