Ch. i. south AMERICA. 197 



through savannahs, woods of plantain, and cacao- 

 trees, we arrived at the river Ojibar ; and continued 

 our journey, durinj^ the whole day, along its banks, 

 fording it no less than nnie times, though wilh no 

 small danger, from its rapidity, breadth, depth, and 

 rockv bottom; and, abont three or four in the af- 

 ternoon, we halted at a placed ca^ed Puerto de Mus- 

 chitos. 



All- the road from Caracol to the Ojibar is so deep 

 and boggy that the beasis at every step sunk almost 

 up to their bellies ; but along the banks of that river 

 we found it much more firm and commodious. The 

 name of the place where we were to take up our 

 lodging that night sufficiently indicates its nature. 

 The house had been for some time forsaken, like that 

 already mentioned on Guayaquil river, and become 

 a nest of mosehitos of all kinds j so that it was impos- 

 sible to determine which was the worst. Some, to 

 avoid the torture of these insects, stripped themselves, 

 and went into the river, keeping only their heads 

 above uater ; but the face, being the only part ex- 

 posed, was immediately covered with them ; so that 

 those who had recourse to this expedient, were soon 

 forced to deliver up their whole bodies to these tor- 

 menting creatures. 



On the i^th we continued our journey through a 

 very thick forest, the end of which brought us once 

 more to the banks of the same river, which we again 

 forded four times, and rather with more danger ttian 

 at iirst. About five, we halted on its banks, at a place 

 called Caluma, or the Indian post. Here was no 

 house ibr lodging in, nor had we seen one during the 

 whole day's journey; but this inconvenience was in 

 some measure removed by the surprising dexterity of 

 our Indians, who, running into the vvcods, soon re- 

 turned with branches of trees and vijahua leaves, with 

 which, in less than an hour, they erected several huts 

 br^e enough to contain our whole company ; and so 



03^ well 



