ain, that we might kill a few more alligators; and were much
disappointed when we told them that we were compelled to continue our
voyage.

As we frequently had to bring up, sometimes before dark, we had
opportunities of shooting a variety of birds and animals in the forest.
The doctor killed several monkeys, one a large red fellow with a beard
as long and rough as that of a capuchin friar, and several others of a
smaller species--one called the titti, a pretty little creature with a
grey back and chocolate-coloured breast, the face without any hair. I
was sorry to see the small creature put to death--it seemed like
unnecessary cruelty; but the doctor did not participate in my feelings,
and I must confess that the monkey made an excellent fricassee.

We generally spent our nights on the dry sandbanks. At first I was
under the unpleasant apprehension that we might be attacked by
alligators; but we were assured that they seldom come out of the water
at night, and unless very hungry are not likely to carry anybody off.
Among other valuable vegetable productions of the country, we saw the
guava-tree, from the fruit of which the jelly of that name is made.

At last we arrived at the town of Mompox, which we happily found in the
hands of the Republicans. We had here to exchange our bongo for a
flat-bottomed boat called a champan, with which alone the upper part of
the river can, from its numerous shallows, be navigated. It is exactly
the same in shape and construction as the boats made by the Indians
before the conquest of the country by the Spaniards. They are of all
sizes. A large one costs a considerable sum--as much, we were told, as
three thousand dollars. The larger are about sixty feet in length, by
seven feet in beam, and the gunwale is two feet from the water's edge.
In the centre is a cabin with a convex roof, between six and seven feet
high, made of strong and flexible bamboos covered with palm-leaves, and
fastened together with the bejuco, the creeper I have before described.
The crew consists of a padrone or captain, a pilot (who steers with a
large paddle), and about twenty-two men, who urge the boat on with long
poles, some standing in the bow and others on the top of the cabin.

The champan we engaged, however, was of a much smaller size.

The news we received at Mompox, that the Spanish forces were moving out
of the fortified towns they had for some time occupied, and were
traversing the country, m