ADVENTURE ON THE HIGHWAY 223 



In the soft dust we travelled noiselessly for a mile 

 or so, passing from open country into groves of oak 

 and thickets of chaparral. 



Without warning, I suddenly came upon a smoulder- 

 ing fire close by the trail, and in the shadow descried 

 two sleeping forms, one stretched on his back, snoring 

 heavily, the other, lying upon his face, pillowing his 

 head upon folded arms. 



I held my pistol aimed at one of the wretches, 

 and rode by without wakening them, guiding Kaweah 

 in the thickest dust. 



It keyed me up to a high pitch. I turned around 

 in the saddle, leaving Kaweah to follow the trail, and 

 kept my eyes riveted on the sleeping forms until they 

 were lost in the distance, and then I felt safe." 



Mr. Reginald Enock has had many adventures in 

 South America, but perhaps the experience quoted here 

 from his book of travel in the Peruvian Andes is the 

 one he is least likely to forget l : " During one expe- 

 dition I experienced several narrow escapes of disaster. 

 Our way lay across some of the vast swamps which 

 are encountered on the high table-lands of the Andes, 

 and my guide somehow got us right into the middle 

 of one of these on to a species of island of unstable 

 matter. There we remained a moment, seeking the 

 way out, whilst the whole * island ' slowly began to 

 sink beneath the weight of the mules. One of the 

 pack-mules, loaded with heavy sacks of mineral 

 samples, broke through the crust and began to sink, 

 the poor beast making frantic endeavours to flounder 

 on towards a rocky promontory some few hundred 

 yards away. But its efforts seemed futile ; it sank 

 1 See Bibliography, 40. 



