COOL ORCHIDS. 97 
far as the Curubing mountains. Up to this time 
we were more or less always starving. Arrived at 
the Curubing mountains, procured a scant supply 
of provisions, but lost nearly all of them in a 
small creek, and what was saved was spoiling 
under our eyes, it being then that the rainy 
season had fully started, drenching us from morn- 
ing to night. It took us nine days to get our loads 
over the mountain, where our boat was to reach us 
to take us down river. And we were for two and 
a half days entirely without food. Besides the 
plants being damaged by stress of weather, the 
Indians had opened the baskets and thrown partly 
the loads away, not being able to carry the heavy 
soaked-through baskets over the mountains, so 
making us lose the best of our plants. 
Arrived at our landing we had to wait for our 
boat, which arrived a week later in consequence of 
the river being high, and, of course, short of pro- 
visions. Still, we got away with what we had of 
our loads until we reached the first gold places 
kept by a friend of mine, who supplied us with 
food. Thereafter we started for town. Halfway, 
at Kapuri falls (one of the most dangerous), we 
swamped down over a rock, and so we lost some 
of our things; still saved all our plants, though 
they lay for a few hours under water with the boat. 
H 
