A DELUGE OF KAIN. 223 



ing the earthen wall wliicli bordered the crevice, and 

 keeping himself suspended, by laying hold of the roots 

 which penetrated to this depth from the surface of the 

 ground. 



They traversed the mountain of Quindiu in October, 

 on foot, followed by twelve oxen, which carried their 

 collections and instruments, amidst a deluge of rain, to 

 which they were exposed during the last three or four 

 days in their descent on the western side of the Cordil- 

 leras. The road passed through a country full of bogs, 

 and covered with bamboos. Their shoes were so torn 

 by the prickles which shoot out from the roots of these 

 gigantic gramina^ that they w^ere forced, like all other 

 travellers who disliked being carried on men's backs, to 

 go barefooted. This circumstance, the continued hu- 

 midity, the length of the passage, the muscular force 

 required to tread in a thick and muddy clay, and the 

 necessity of fording deep torrents of icy water, rendered 

 this journey extremely fatiguing ; but, however painful, 

 it was accompanied by none of those dangers with w^hich 

 the credulity of the people alarmed travellers. The road 

 was narrow, but the places where it skirted precipices 

 were very rare. As the oxen were accustomed to put 

 their feet in the same tracks they formed small furrows 

 across the road, separated fi^om each other by narrow 

 ridges of earth. In very rain}^ seasons, these ridges were 

 covered with water, which rendered the steps of the 

 travellers doubly uncertain, since they knew not whether 

 they placed their feet on the ridge or in the furrow. 



The usual mode of travelling for persons in easy cir- 

 cumstances, was in a chair, strapped to the back of one 

 of the native porters, who lived by letting out their backs 



