160 LUDICBOTJS 



"We supposed that a small wood of plantain-trees con 

 cealed from us the hut of the farm ; but this man, so proud 

 of his nobility and the colour of his skin, had not taken the 

 trouble of constructing even an ajoupa, or hut of palm- 

 leaves. He invited us to have our hammocks hung near 

 his own, between two trees ; and he assured us, with an 

 air of complacency, that, if we came up the river in the 

 rainy season, we should find him beneath a roof (baxo 

 techo). We soon had reason to complain of a system of 

 philosophy which is indulgent to indolence, and renders a 

 man indifferent to the conveniences of life. A furious wind 

 arose after midnight, lightnings flashed over the horizon, 

 thunder rolled, and we were wet to the skin. During this 

 storm a whimsical incident served to amuse us for a moment. 

 Dona Isabella's cat had perched upon the tamarind-tree, 

 at the foot of which we lay. It fell into the hammock of 

 one of our companions, who, being hurt by the claws of the 

 cat, and suddenly aroused from a profound sleep, imagined 

 he was attacked by some wild beast of the forest. We ran 

 to him on hearing his cries, and had some trouble to con- 

 vince him of his error. While it rained in torrents on our 

 hammocks and on our instruments which we had brought 

 ashore, Don Ignacio congratulated us on our good fortune 

 in not sleeping on the strand, but finding ourselves in his 

 domain, among whites and persons of respectability (entre 

 gente blanca y de trato) . Wet as we were, we could not 

 easily persuade ourselves of the advantages of our situation, 

 and we listened with some impatience to the long narrative 

 our host gave us of his pretended expedition to the Rio 

 Meta, of the valour he had displayed in a sanguinary com- 

 bat with the Gruahibo Indians, and "the services that he 

 had rendered to God and his king, in carrying away Indian 

 children (los Indiecitos) from their parents, to distribute 

 them in the Missions." We were struck with the singu- 

 larity of finding in that vast solitude a man believing him- 

 self to be of European race and knowing no other shelter 

 than the shade of a tree, and yet having all the vain pre- 

 tensions, hereditary prejudices, and errors of long-standing 

 civilization ! 



On the 1st of April, at sunrise, we quitted Sefior Don 

 Ignacio and Senora Dona Isabella his wife. The weather 



