Ch. XIII.] BENIGHTED ON THE MOUNTAINS. 243 



On leaving the cave our guide put us on tlie wrong 

 road, and we did not discover the mistake until we had 

 travelled a couple of miles. We then arrived at some 

 huts in the pine forest, where we were told that the road 

 to Ocotal was half a mile distant, across a stream and a 

 high steep range opposite. We had either to return to 

 San Rafael to take the right road or to cross the range. 

 The latter looked rather formidable, but we determined 

 to try it. It was very steep and rocky, but amongst the 

 pines there was no underwood, so, after some stumbling 

 and slipping, our beasts managed to scramble to the top, 

 and we soon after regained the road. 



We now travelled over steep ranges, composed of 

 great moraine-like heaps of clay, with large angular 

 boulders. Pine and oak trees covered the heights, 

 shrouded with long fringes and festoons of the moss-like 

 Tillandsia. Many epiphytes grew on the oaks, amongst 

 which the mottled yellow flower of an orchid huns: down 



/ O 



in spikes six feet long. 



Five miles after regaining the road we reached the top 

 of a high range of hills, and found a single hut on the 

 summit. Night was coming on, it was raining, and we 

 were told that there was a very bad road before us over 



/ 



mountains, and no other house for three leagues. We 

 determined to stay at the hut, although the prospect of 

 our night's entertainment was a most cheerless one. The 

 hut was about twenty feet square with a small attached 

 shed for a kitchen. The floor was the natural earth, 

 littered with corn husks and other refuse. There was not 

 a bit of furniture, excepting some rough sleeping places 

 made of hides stretched over poles. There was not a 

 stool nor even a log of wood to sit down upon. In this 



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