stantly during the previous six months), did all they could to
get me to "buck up," and kept moving me backwards and forwards to warm
myself, which operation I well remember was a very tedious one. They
also tried to get me to eat of their cold frugal fare; but that was
beyond me; and after they decided it was time to rest for the night, I
scrambled in _amongst them_--Indians all round me--so as to benefit from
the heat of their bodies. It was neither a very pleasant nor a very
clean position that I occupied, and I can hardly realise how I had the
courage to do what I did; but the facts remain the same, and at any rate
I got some rest.

It poured all night, and when at daybreak I suggested to my men that it
was time to start, they positively refused to move until the rain
ceased. I brought all my persuasive powers to bear, but it was of no
avail, and as I had decided to go on alone, all I got out of them was a
promise they would follow me at 10 o'clock. It was very disappointing,
but I was determined to get forward at all cost. I therefore started on
my lonely journey at eight o'clock, with the rain, and at times sleet,
coming down in bucketfuls; I could hardly see in front of me at times,
and it was destined to be a trip of which I shall always retain very
vivid recollections. On this occasion, owing to the excessive rains, all
the little mountain streams, which under normal circumstances are of no
inconvenience to travellers, had been converted into veritable roaring
torrents, causing me on more than one occasion to think twice before
attempting a crossing. To condense matters as much as possible, let me
remark that it rained all day; travelling was not only difficult but
positively dangerous, and I, being so ill, could hardly keep my seat on
my mule. All this made travelling so slow that I was still a long way
from "El Injenio," my objective point for the night, when darkness
overtook me. I had the narrow, dangerous paths to go along which I have
already described, and I therefore did not trust to getting over them on
muleback, but took the safer and, in my opinion, more sensible plan of
leading my animal. This was tedious work, but it was to become worse
very soon. I arrived at one of those swollen mountain streams, the
appearance of which in the darkness fairly frightened me. My mule would
not look at it, and for a while I did not know exactly what to do. I
could judge that it was four or five feet deep, and rushing