16 



WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



countenance or demeanour which indicated that he was 

 in the least mindful of having been benefited by the 

 society he was just leaving. 



The Indians said that he had neither wife, nor child, 

 nor friend. They had often tried to persuade him to 

 come and live amongst them ; but all was of no avail. 

 He went roving on, plundering the wild bees of their 

 honey, and picking up the fallen nuts and fruits of the 

 forest. "When he fell in with game, he procured fire 

 from two sticks, and cooked it on the spot. When a 

 hut happened to be in his way, he stepped in, and 

 asked for something to eat ; and then months elapsed 

 ere they saw him again. They did not know what had 

 caused him to be thus unsettled ; he had been so for 

 years : nor did they believe that even old age itself 

 would change the habits of this poor, harmless, solitary 

 wanderer. 



Trom Simon's, the traveller may reach the large fall 

 with ease in four days. 



The first falls that he meets are merely rapids, scarce 

 a stone appearing above the water in the rainy season ; 

 and those in the bed of the river barely high enough to 

 arrest the water's course, and, by causing a bubbling, 

 show that they are there. 



With this small change of appearance in the stream 

 the stranger observes nothing new till he comes within 

 eight or ten miles of the great fall. Each side of the 

 river presents an uninterrupted range of wood, just as it 

 did below. All the productions found betwixt the plan- 

 tations and the rock Saba, are to be met with here. 



From Simon's to the great fall, there are five habi- 

 tations of the Indians : two of them close to the 

 river's side ; the other three a little way in the forest. 



