LEAVES FROM A LOG. 365 



himself from his foe, who continues to twist his tail, and wheels on 

 his own ground, while the bull roars furiously with rage, and makes 

 wide circles until he is exhausted and giddy with continual gyrations. 

 This the Llanero knows by the animal tottering, when with a won- 

 derful expertness, he suddenly brings the bull's tail under his hind 

 legs, and with a strong jerk, and at the same time lending his weight, 

 the animal is tripped up, and flung with violence to the ground. This 

 is managed so adroitly, that I have seen a bull's horn broken in the 

 fall. I am told that General Paez is not a little proud of his dexterity 

 at these encounters with cattle. 



The Llanaro politely saluted us. We asked him to shew us the 

 way to Old Guiana, whither we were bent ; and he courteously 

 proffered to be our guide. He preceded us through the tangled path, 

 occasionally using his matcheto, or small cutlass, to clear the half- 

 abandoned trace from copse and bushes that impeded our journey, 

 until we came to a more open road, beside which lay a quantity of 

 human bones. This place had been the scene of one of those nu- 

 merous and desperate skirmishes, by which, rather than by grand 

 battles, the independence of South America was gained. 



The Llanero cast a look of satisfaction over the field, exclaimed 

 " Viva la Patria," and commenced a song set to an old Spanish air, 

 very generally sung by the Columbian soldiers. After he had finished 

 this song, we came to a road so much clearer than the briar-incum- 

 bered trace we had hitherto passed, that the Llanero and myself 

 could go side by side. I entered into conversation with him, and he 

 related to me many of the adventures wherein he had been engaged : 

 the most interesting of which was his capture near the Rio Negro, 

 or River of Poisons, by the CHOQUA, a race of Indians, I believe, 

 unknown to Europeans. Having been wounded and rendered sense- 

 less in a skirmish in which the Republicans were victorious, his party 

 went on in pursuit of the enemy, and left him among the dead to the 

 care of the jaguars. He recovered his reason, and with difficulty 

 defended himself from the wild beasts ; until by great exertions, he 

 armed himself with the weapons of one of the dead, and got up a 

 tall silk-cotton tree. The next day he contrived to set fire to a 

 quantity of dried vegetable matter beneath him ; this had the effect 

 of keeping off the animals, who, indeed, found too much prey to be 

 stimulated to their usual ferocity. In examining the baggage left on 

 the field, he found some articles of provision, of which he stood in 

 great need ; and in a portmanteau attached to the dead horse of a 

 French officer, in the South American service, he discovered a six- 

 keyed flute. This he took, both on account of some little skill he 

 possessed, and its intrinsic value. 



Night came on, and being disabled, stiff with his wounds, and 

 unable yet to retrace his way on foot to any human dwelling, he again 

 took refuge in the tree. He slept until midnight, when he was awak- 

 ened by an awful subterraneous rumbling sound. The moon had risen 

 high in the heavens, and shed her mild light over the forests by this 

 he could discover that the trees in the distance rose and sunk gradually. 

 The undualation of the earth reached his tree, which he felt to rise 

 and decline, and heard it creak most terribly. It was an earthquake. 



