328 The Andes and the Amazon. 



Besides this outer outfit, an inner one is needed — of pa- 

 tience without stint. You will soon learn that it is one thing 

 to plan and quite another to execute. " To get out of the 

 inn is one half of the journey" is very appropriately a 

 Spanish proverb. Spaniards do nothing d ^wppressado (in 

 a hurry), but every thing manana (to-morrow). You will 

 find fondas, horses, and roads divided into the bad, the 

 worse, and the worst, and bad is the best. But fret not 

 thyself. "Serenity of mind," wrote Humboldt, "almost 

 the first requisite for an undertaking in inhosj^itable re- 

 gions, passionate love for some class of scientific labor, and 

 a pure feeling for the enjoyment which nature in her free- 

 dom is ready to impart, are elements which, when they 

 meet together in an individual, insm'e the attainment of 

 valuable results from a great and important journey." 



The journey to Quito must be made between May and 

 November; in the rainy season the roads are impassable. 

 From Guayaquil to Bodegas by Yankee steamer ; fare, $2 ; 

 time, eight hours. At Bodegas hire beasts at the Consig- 

 nacion for Guaranda; price for riding and cargo beasts, 

 $4 each. No extras for the arriero. A mule will carry 

 two hundred and fifty pounds. Buy bread at Bodegas and 

 Guaranda. The Indians on the road are very loth to sell 

 any thing ; buy a fowl, therefore, at the first opportunity, 

 or you will have to live on dirty potato soup, and be glad 

 of that. At the tambos, or wayside inns, you pay only for 

 yerba (fodder). Never unsaddle your beast till it is cool ; 

 an Indian will even leave the bridle on for a time. To 

 Guaranda, three full days. There take mules (safer than 

 horses in climbing the mountains) for Quito ; $6 25, silver, 

 per beast ; time, five days. Be sure to leave Guaranda by 

 4 A.M., for in the afternoon Chimborazo is swept by fu- 

 rious winds. Also start with a full stomach ; you will get 

 nothing for two days. Drink sparingly of the snow-water 



