172 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



excursion and the incapacity of our guide. Our 

 complimentary remarks in the choicest Spanish 

 were quite lost upon this individual, and to the 

 terms of endearment which we applied to him in 

 English he was equally impervious. "We found 

 also that the other Indian had played us false, 

 and taking his gun had gone hunting on his 

 own account, leaving his clothes to show that 

 he meant to return ; the rascal no doubt knew 

 where the game was likely to be found, and had 

 sent us off on a fool's errand in the opposite 

 direction. I think, however, that we squared 

 accounts with him in the long-run, for leaving a 

 ship's biscuit and a bottle of water by the side 

 of his clothes, we took to the boat and returned 

 on board, leaving him to reflect upon the base 

 ingratitude of his conduct, and of the advisa- 

 bility of being more civil to Englishmen in 

 future. 



We were given to understand that his wife 

 used some rather strong language when she 

 found that her lord and master was left on the 

 island, but as we sailed the next morning before 



