A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCES IN VENEZUELA. 93 



twinkling lights of Guanoco to remind us of human habita- 

 tions. I dreamed that night of being stabbed in the back by 

 a howling monkey, while the safe of the Pitch Lake Company 

 was broken into by a band of shrieking Macaws ! 



On the morning after our arrival at Guanoco we sorrowfully 

 said good-by to the "Josefa Jacinta." As we watched her 

 sail away we consoled ourselves by planning another and a 

 longer trip on her — a trip which never took place. Looking 

 back after almost two years I realize that life can bring me 



Fig. 49. Loading Pitch on the H.'\nd Cars. 



few experiences more full of interest and charm than those 

 days on a little Venezuelan sloop exploring the mysterious 

 untrodden mangroves! "How could you enjoy it?" I am 

 often asked: but the trifling discomforts were all in the day's 

 work and more than compensated by the beauty and free- 

 dom and wonder of it all. They served to make us know 

 that it was not all a dream. 



Our days at Guanoco began early and were full to over- 

 flowing of interest and of work. In the heat of midday we 

 pressed flowers, skinned birds and wrote up our journals, 



