76 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



illo said afterwards with a sad shake of his head that they 

 would have lost their positions long before the pictures could 

 reach them. No one ever stayed long; there was always 

 someone to carry reports to Castro of treachery and plotting, 

 and there would be new faces on the " Ponton," to stay a little 

 while and then to disappear like their predecessors. 



FIG. 41. VENEZUELAN SOLDIERS ON THE "PONTON" GUARD SHIP. 



Now for many days the sloop was our home, and the innu- 

 merable gleaming canos of the delta our highways. By day 

 we explored the mangroves in our curiara or dug-out, and by 

 night we slept the dreamless sleep of healthful outdoor life, 

 safe from the persecution of the humming Anopheles out- 

 side our netting on the after deck. When midday heat or 

 sudden rain drove the wild creatures from our view I 

 studied our motley crew and found them a never-failing 

 source of entertainment. 



