g who we were he invited us in,
promising to supply all our wants. He had not much to offer in the way
of accommodation, but such as it was he gladly put it at our disposal.
Such luxuries as beds did not exist, but a long table and benches and
chairs were found in the principal hut; also an ample supply of beef,
which an old negress immediately began to prepare for us. Suffice it to
say that we had a substantial supper, and could sleep secure from the
attacks of foes.

The next morning, our breakfast having been a repetition of the evening
meal, we prepared to start, the overseer having selected a trusty
llanero as our guide. It was difficult to say to what race he belonged.
He called himself a white, but his complexion and features betokened
Indian and African progenitors. He was a fine, athletic-looking fellow,
lithe yet muscular, and evidently capable of enduring continued and
violent exercise without fatigue. A broad-brimmed hat, a shirt and
trousers, and a coloured poncho over his shoulders, completed his
attire; his weapons being a long lance and a large-mouthed blunderbuss.
Of his steed, which he had caught and broken-in himself, he was
excessively proud; and he boasted that, mounted on its back, there was
not a bull on the plains, however fierce, which he could not overtake
and capture with his lasso. He would conduct us without fail to the
camp, though streams and marshes intervened, over a wide extent of the
llanos.

We set off, therefore, without anxiety, either keeping alongside our
guide or following close at his heels; now galloping along the borders
of a marsh, now plunging through places where I should have expected to
be smothered, had I not trusted to his experience to lead the way. I am
afraid to say how many miles we covered without pulling rein. Our hardy
steeds requiring no food till the end of the day's journey, we only
stopped for a few minutes by the side of a pool to allow them to drink,
and then went on again.

Towards nightfall we arrived at another farm, very similar to the one we
had left. The padre complained much of the fatigue of riding at a rate
to which he had been so long unaccustomed. Even the doctor declared
that he had no wish to travel the same distance another day. Our guide
laughed at their complaints, observing that they were welcome to rest as
long as they liked. He looked with more respect at me, as I had endured
the fatigue better than my companions.

During