INDIAN METHOD OF WALKING 2tJ 



accustomed to boots who would dare to attempt such 

 a feat would be lame before he had gone many yards. 

 These Indians all walk with the toes slightly turned in, 

 and they plant one foot before the other in a straight line. 

 In cutting a track through the forest, much labour is 

 saved if it be made narrow. But the narrower the path 

 the more careful one has to be of the stumps and small 

 trees on its sides. Hence the adoption by the Indians of 

 a system of walking suited to the conditions under which 

 they have to travel. 



We ate cassava and tm'tle-eggs at midday, as we had 

 done the day before. Isidor advised me to drink my fill 

 at the stream where we then were, for we would not, he 

 said, meet with water again until late in the afternoon. 

 He and his companions then set the example by filling 

 themselves up with water as only savages can do. It was 

 necessary that we should hurry on if we meant to reach 

 before nightfall the ranclio built by the Indians when 

 they cut the track. Isidor took the lead, with Sylvestre 

 following, and they made the pace. As we proceeded the 

 ground became uneven. The Indians told us that we 

 were nearing the first hill, and that we would have to 

 cross three of these hills before reaching the base of 

 Turagua. The aspect of the country when we reached 

 the foot of the hill was quite different to that which we 

 had left behind us. In place of the luxuriant growth of 

 the forest, we were going through a vegetation similar to 

 that of the lajas. 



In climbing these hills we had to proceed cautiously, 

 as rocks of all sizes and shapes were piled loosely one on 

 top of the other, and in certain cases we found that a 

 slight touch was sufficient to displace masses of consider- 

 able weight, which would go rolling down the declivity 



