THE ADVENTURES OF 



drunken man, and at last fell down beneath his burden, and all 

 the guavas rolled out on to the ground. 



Our laughter rather hurt the brave Indian's feelings. 



" By Jose-Maria ! " he cried, holding up his hands towards 

 heaven, " I am getting old. Oh ! what a disgrace ! not to be able 

 to carry a handful of guavas. In my youth, it would have taken 

 three such loads as those to have made me fall down on my knees 

 like a broken-down horse. Poor old fellow ! " 



L'Encuerado was certainly exaggerating his former strength ; 

 but, at any rate, it cut him to the heart to have to throw away 

 so much of the fruit he had gathered, and our insisting upon his 

 doing so quite crowned his vexation. With a view of consoling 

 him, I reminded him that the guavas would spoU in twenty-four 

 hours, and that his basket held more than we could possibly 

 consume. 



Sumichrast was walking about twenty steps in front of us, 

 when suddenly he stopped and drew back. When I got abreast 

 of him, my eyes met an immense ravine, at the bottom of 

 which the torrent was rushing with a loud noise. The water 

 was first calm and sluggish, accumulating in a large basin, 

 then it suddenly burst forth against an immense rock, and disap- 

 peared, roaring and foaming in two columns, which, after uniting, 

 broke into a thousand little cascades. We all wished to visit the 

 bottom of this ravine, in order to enjoy this wondrous sight in all 

 its grandeur. 



Before making our way into the brushwood we put down our 

 insect-cases and game-bags, for the enterprise required our un- 

 impeded agility. As long as we could cling on to the plants and 

 shrubs, the descent was mere child's play ; but we soon found our- 

 selves treading on a reddish ferruginous soil, which some great 

 land-slip had exposed. Sumichrast was the first to venture on 

 this dangerous ground, which gave way under him at his third 

 stride. Our companion rolled over the declivity — instinctively 

 grasping the first branches he could reach ; but he let go directly, 

 uttering a piercing cry. Fortunately a shrub kept him from fall- 

 ing into the gulf I planted my feet as deeply as I could in the 

 crumbling soil, so as to be able to help my friend, who, with his 



