CHAP. xni. INCESSANT RAINS. 245 



side, and the other on the other ; and when I tried to escape 

 on one side they both came there, and when I tried the other 

 side they both went tltere, but at last I escaped, and here I 

 am, quite out of breath/' ^''Monsieur,'' he said, ^^on my word 

 of honour, they were as fat as butter, and skipped about Hke 

 chamois ! " 



April 14. From Camp on Sara-urcu to Corredor Macliai. It 

 rained all night. Temperature in our hole was 36° '75 Faht. at 

 daybreak'. This was a miserable place for protection against the 

 Aveather. Nothing reasonably overhanging could be found. The 

 loose stones, lying about, were either boulders too large to move, 

 or too small to be of use. Shelter consisted solely of our three 

 mackintosh ponchos, suspended from the Manilla rope. Large 

 seams of massive quartz were a feature here. Nothing more 

 golden was found than some glittering pyrites. 



Rain continued without intermission. No one at Oayambe 

 had spoken about these incessant rains. From the aspect of the 

 country (so different from any other part of Ecuador), from 

 the saturation of the hills, the innumerable small pools, streamlets 

 and springs, I am convinced they are nearly perpetual. Being 

 thoroughly sodden, and without the means of drying ourselves, 

 we descended in the afternoon to Corredor Machai. Arrived 

 drenched from the waist downwards. 



Occasional glimpses of the country to the south (between 

 Sara-urcu and Antisana) shewed that it contained a number 

 of small ranges, without any single peak rising notably higher 

 than the rest. Many were loftier than our station, and the 

 highest are probably about 14,500 feet above the sea. No 

 mountain was snow-covered, though there were numerous small 

 patches of snow upon many of the peaks. I imagine that this 

 district is entirely uninhabited. 



Found five men who had come up with a letter to Verity 

 from the Jefo-politico, saying that there was a strong report 

 in the village that we were lost. Got rid of them as soon as 



