THE JAGUAR. 



149 



whilst the horses continued on their journey, 

 they would bear up very well ; but if they were 

 suffered to rest, they would become stiff, lose 

 flesh, and be rendered entirely unfit for service, 

 for a considerable time. I did not then quite 

 believe him, but as there was no object in stay- 

 ing, I desired Julio to return with them to A^u 

 the next day at two o'clock, that we and they 

 might have, at any rate, a rest of twenty-four 

 hours. I afterwards learnt, by experience, that 

 the guide was quite right regarding the horses ; 

 that regular work is better than a rest of more 

 than one whole day. 



Our friend, the saddler, among other stories, 

 mentioned having passed over the same ground 

 which we had traversed from St. Lucia, only a 

 short time before us. He was in company with 

 another man and a boy, and had also a dog with 

 him ; they had put up for the night under shel- 

 ter of one of the rocks, in the vicinity of the 

 lake of which I have spoken. His companion 

 had taken the horses to some little distance to 

 graze ; the boy and the dog remained with him ; 

 he had made a fire, and was in the act of pre- 

 paring some dried meat to be cooked, when the 

 boy called out, " Where is the dog ?" — the man 

 answered, " Here he is, why what is the matter?" 

 the boy said, " What eyes, then, are those?" point- 

 ing, at the same time, to the corner of the rock ; 

 the man looked, and saw the eyes, for nothing 



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