TRAMP THROUGH THE FOREST 17 



into the very bones of her right ankle, and had so 

 crippled her that she was unable to walk. In spite of 

 her affliction, she followed her one-eyed husband for 

 many long miles into the woods, slowly dragging herself 

 on one leg. The sight of this couple stricken with age 

 and disease, forced to wander about the forest so as 

 to obtain a living, was painful in the extreme. After 

 leaving this scene of misery we proceeded in the direction 

 of the Laja Grande} Many ranclios had been built in 

 the vicinity of this laja, for its size and the flatness of its 

 surface offered great convenience for the preparation of 

 the beans. We could hear the sarrapieros shouting to 

 each other as we followed the narrow path through the 

 forest. We passed three of their huts, but did not stop. 

 The trail lay almost due east, and except where a curve 

 had been made to avoid some obstruction, such as a fallen 

 tree, it was straight enough. We trudged wearily along, 

 keeping our eyes down so as to avoid being tripped up by 

 the network of roots and creepers with which the ground 

 was covered. Several streams, some with mud, others 

 with sandy beds, had to be crossed. At first I took my 

 boots off whenever we came to one of these streams, but 

 I soon got tired of this repetition of taking off and put- 

 ting on my socks and boots every ten minutes, and I 

 resolved to leave them on until we should reach our 

 camping-place. It was all right when the bed of the 

 stream happened to be of mud or earth, but where it was 

 sand, and my boots got filled with particles, I still had to 

 take them off and wash the grit out, or I should have 

 been unable to continue walking. At about one o'clock 

 we halted on the banks of a broad clear stream and 

 had something to eat. The Indians had brought ripe 



' The Great Eock. 



