CHAP. XX. DESCENT THROUGH THE FOREST. 387 



deep valley, and then stopped perplexed, not knowing how to get 

 to it, or where to go. A casnal man, who tnrned np at the right 

 moment, said that by breaking away to the west we could make a 

 short cut to the Bridge of Chimbo (the terminus of the Railway). 

 We followed his advice, and, after many windings through a wild, 

 wooded country, found ourselves at dusk at the commencement of 

 the descent towards the Pacific ; plunged down the forest-covered 

 slopes, and at 7 p.m. were brought to a stand by darkness when 

 about 9000 feet above the sea. Not a soul had been seen since 

 the casual man. All of us went to bed supperless, as the food was 

 nearly exhausted. Off again soon after sunrise, we descended 4400 

 feet without a break, and then came to a diminutive Hacienda, 

 called Cayandeli, where a solitary man in possession declared there 

 was nothing to eat. 



During the last two days, the route had skirted the eastern 

 side of the Range of Chimborazo. The slojoes which we had now 

 to descend were at its extreme southern end. Since leaving 

 Riobamba, views had been confined either to the immediate sur- 

 roundings or to a few miles away, and Chimborazo and its allies 

 were invisible. The same, too, was the case with the country on 

 the east. We passed Sangai without seeing it, or any of the 

 mountains in its vicinity. On entering the forest, the range of 

 vision became even more circumscribed by the tortuous bends of 

 the ever-winding track. Sometimes it was ill-marked, overgrown 

 and readily lost.^ We went astray, and at night on the lltli were 

 still in the jungle, and retired to rest, supperless, on the top of the 

 packing-cases. 



Except for the pangs of hunger, and a growing apprehension 



that the steamer at Guayaquil would be missed, this descent 



through the forest would have been enjoyable. In the course of a 



day, the nakedness of the Interior changed to the luxuriance of 



the Tropics ; the increasing warmth was grateful ; and presently 



1 The descent commenced at about 11,160 feet above the sea, and continued 

 without intermission for more than 9000 feet. We saw the barometer rise six inches 

 and three-quarters upon the 11th of July. 



