A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCES IN VENEZUELA. 85 



cries of unknown birds and beasts, the impressive southern 

 cross and the extraordinary brilliancy of the moonlight shin- 

 ing down upon the tiny deck of the " Josefa Jacinta," and 

 upon us and the sleeping forms of its dusky crew. 



We were sometimes awakened in the night by a sudden 

 bright light in our faces. It was Maestro making a fire, in 



Fig. 46. GuAK\UNO Sllu\^^s and Child with Monkey. 



which operation he used alarming quantities of kerosene, to 

 prepare the midnight repast for the crew, who whenever they 

 woke in the night would call loudly "Maestro — cafe! " 



Again the sound of an unusually heavy downpour of trop- 

 ical rain on the tarpaulin overhead would waken us, and I 

 would occasionally discover that my feet were in a puddle of 

 water. A shifting of beds to prevent our being drowned 

 while we slept would invariably result in our feet being 



