BENEATH THE FOEEST. 209 



their tops in beautiful coronals of leaves and flowers, con- 

 cealing death and decay beneath life and beauty ; heavy 

 clumps of mosses {Tlllandsia) "with pendant tresses, fos- 

 tered by the humidity of the atmosphere, draped the 

 whole with their gray festoons, giving a sombre and fu- 

 nereal aspect to the scenery; as those forest depths ai'e 

 scarcely lighted by the scattering rays of the sun, which 

 tremblingly shoot through the thick canopy of leaves 

 above. During early morning the forests are resonant 

 with the hum of multitudinous life ; but, as the day ad- 

 vances, all grows silent, and one wandering beneath their 

 dark shade feels painfully oppressed by their solitude. 

 We recall now our first ramble in the forest upon the out- 

 skirts of Yinces, a little village located upon one of the 

 afiluents of the Guayas. The many sounds of morning 

 had given way to the torpor of mid-day, and, as we strolled 

 in the silent wood, our own footfall almost startled us. 

 Rarely is the sense of loneliness so keen as when com- 

 panionless in the depths of a South- American forest. 



For the first half day we forced our way through this 

 w^ilderness, and by noon reached the foot of the Andes, 

 where "we halted for a traveller's lunch, and then com- 

 menced to ascend. Our mules scarcely ever showed any 

 indication of weariness. What a blessing have those ad- 

 dicted to wandering over the by-ways of the woi'ld found 

 in this patient, circumspect, sure-footed animal ! Notwith- 

 standing a long-founded prejudice, we conceived a deep 

 admiration for the species in general, from the good be- 

 havior of our own beasts, as they bore us safely over the 

 steep and slippery passes of the Cordilleras. We, how- 

 ever, had a little misunderstanding at first. We addressed 

 them in English, not thinking of their classical deficien- 

 cies. The result was, when we intimated to them our 

 desire to stop, they v/ere sure to alarmingly accelerate 

 their movements ; and, when, with a halt being finally se- 



