8 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



patience at the hundred and one exasperating things that 

 were constantly cropping out to impede our progress or 

 upset our plans. One of the first things the visitor to Latin- 

 America must learn is to take things good-naturedly and 

 as easily as possible. If one employs servants regularly it 

 is possible to correct many of their customs that are so an- 

 noying to the North American; but the countries, as a 

 whole, cannot be reformed by any one in a single day, and 

 the person who takes things too seriously either lacks a 

 sense of humor or conveys the impression that he is very 

 foolish. 



Some of the mules were saddled for riding, while others 

 were equipped with thick pack-saddles made of burlap 

 stuffed with straw. Bags and trunks were brought out, 

 sorted as to weight, and then loaded on the pack-mules, 

 being held in place one on either side of the animal with 

 cowhide thongs. Each mule carried about two hundred 

 and fifty pounds. While adjusting cargoes, the arrieros, or 

 drivers, place their poncho over the mules' eyes; otherwise 

 they would not stand for the rather rough treatment to 

 which they are subjected. 



The road was fairly wide and good. It followed along 

 the gorge of the Dagua, now a small stream. Within a few 

 hours the village of El Carmen was reached and we dis- 

 mounted to await the pack-train and incidentally to have 

 lunch at the posada, and to see a cock-fight, for the fiesta 

 of yesterday was still in progress in the rural districts. 



We climbed slowly and steadily upward. At fifty-five 

 hundred feet the zone of clouds and vapor appeared; trees, 

 rocks, in fact everything seemed unreal and ghost-hke, 

 enveloped in the thick, blue-gray haze that penetrated 

 clothing and sent a piercing chill to the very marrow. Dark- 

 ness was fast approaching, so we stopped at a wayside hut 

 called El Tigre for the night. The house was damp and 

 cold, as might have been expected, and its occupants were 

 practically without food. A profusion of vegetation grew 

 in the yard; there were roses, geraniums, hibiscus, and 



