ch of us he should accompany; but Uncle Richard pointed to me,
and he immediately leaped on the raft.

By the time we landed, Juan's small troop were in readiness to move on.
He had, fortunately, a spare horse, which I mounted; and I confess that
I felt my spirits rise wonderfully when I found myself in the saddle,
after so many days' journeying on foot.

We rode on until we reached the borders of a wood which would serve to
shelter our camp-fires. There the horses were picketed, while patrols
were sent out to give due notice of danger. Though in our native land,
we had to act as if in an enemy's country. However, we invariably found
the country-people ready to give us all the information we required as
to the whereabouts of the Spaniards, and were thus able to avoid them.
Had it not been for this, the Patriots would have been crushed by the
superior force the Spaniards were bringing against them. While we could
always learn the movements of our enemies, and obtain an ample supply of
food, the Spaniards were unable even to trust their own spies; and it
was only by means of strong foraging-parties that they could collect
provisions.

We thus reached our destination,--a farmhouse situated on a slope at the
foot of the mountains, with the wide llanos stretching out before it.
Having an extensive view over the plain from this point, we could see
the approach of an enemy from a great distance; and, according to the
strength of their force, we might either prepare for resistance, or make
our escape. An enclosure ran round it, formed by trunks of trees driven
into the ground close together. It had been formed years before, for
the purpose of resisting attacks by the Indians, and would still enable
a body of men to hold their own against any small force of infantry or
cavalry, though, for the present, we did not expect to be molested.

The men Juan had brought with him were accustomed to the life of the
llanos, and no time was lost in commencing the work for which they had
come. The very next morning the whole party started off provided with
lassoes,--Juan and I accompanying them. The herds of wild horses were
accustomed to come close up to the farm, so that we had not to go far
before we fell in with a herd. The men then separated into parties of
two, forming a circle round the animals they wished to capture. The
wild horses, seeing strangers advancing from all sides, closed up
towards the centre, not knowing in w