CHAP. XIII. 



LONGS TO KETUEN HOME, 



249 



gineer ; and he was accustomed to say that, after having 

 witnessed them, he was reluctant to accuse the ancient 

 Peruvians of idolatry. 



But all these natural heauties failed to reconcile him 

 to the harassing difficulties of his situation, which 

 continued to increase rather than diminish. He was 

 hampered by the action of the Board at home, who 

 gave ear to hostile criticisms on his reports ; and although 

 they afterwards made handsome acknowledgment of his 

 services, he felt his position to be altogether unsatis- 

 factory. He therefore determined to leave at the expiry 

 of his three years' engagement, and communicated his 

 decision to the directors accordingly. 1 On receiving his 



1 In a letter to Mr. Illingworth, 

 then resident at Bogota, dated the 

 24th March, 1826, Eobert wrote as 

 follows : " Nothing but the fullest 

 consent of my partners in England 

 could induce me to stay in this 

 country, and the assurance that no 

 absolute necessity existed to call me 

 home. I must also have the consent 

 of my father. I know that he must 

 have suffered severely from my ab- 

 sence, but that having been extended 

 so far beyond the period he was led to 

 expect, may have induced him to 

 curtail his plans; which, had they 

 been accomplished, as they would 

 have been by my assistance, would 

 have placed us both in a situation far 

 superior to anything that I can hope 

 for as the servant of an Association 

 however wealthy and liberal. What 

 I might do in England is, perhaps, 

 known to myself only ; it is difficult, 

 therefore, for the Association to calcu- 

 late upon rewarding me to the full 

 extent of my prospects at home. My 

 prosperity is involved in that of my 

 lather, whose property was sacrificed 

 in laying the foundations of an esta- 

 blishment for me ; his capital being 

 invested in a concern which requires 



the greatest attention, and which, 

 with our personal superintendence, 

 could not i'ail to secure that inde- 

 pendence which forms so principally 

 the object of all our toil. Ignorant as 

 I am of the present state of affairs in 

 England, it would be inconsiderate on 

 my part to enter upon any further 

 engagement; but I have the prospe- 

 rity of my present task so much at 

 heart, that my duty only would in- 

 duce me to abandon it. My residence 

 in this country, and the work I have 

 had to perform, would have been irk- 

 some in the extreme, had I not been 

 fortunate in meeting yoii, w r hose ac- 

 quaintance and generous kindness to 

 me has comparatively lightened my 

 task, and of which believe me to be 

 gratefully sensible. My experience in 

 Colombia has, of course, led me to a 

 knowledge of all that can be alleged 

 against my prolonging my stay, even 

 supposing that my duties should not 

 call me to England. I should be shut 

 up in Sta. Anna, where no desirable 

 society exists, excepting that of my 

 friend Empson.* 1 should be com- 

 pletely debarred from following out 

 my studies; in short, the faculties of 

 my mind must become dormant, ex- 



a Charles Empson accompanied Robert 

 Stephenson to Colombia, as his secretary 

 and book-keeper. He afterwards published 

 a book, entitled, ' Narratives of South Ame- 



rica, illustrating Manners, Customs, and 

 Scenery.' London: 1836. He died at 

 Bath, in the autumn of 1861. 



