PERUVIAN PIONEERS. 



45 



idea of the number of beautiful and valuable tiger-skins to be found in 

 the bushes. I had been thinking of the water-power dashing by us for 

 a saw-mill; when, before going to sleep, he said, "Cover your head, sir, 

 at night ; for the serpents here are very large." These are productions 

 not always enumerated in a commercial list. 



At 5 30, a. m., thermometer, 49° ; temperature of stream, 49°. Clear 

 morning. The road was much obstructed by bamboo, and in a very bad 

 condition. We have to halt and repair the road, or cut away the brush- 

 wood ; the wet branches keep us damp ; now and then a mule ahead runs 

 into a bee's nest, which sets all into activity. Our mules plunge into great 

 mud-holes, and are fretted among the roots of the trees. At mid-day, 

 thermometer, 74°, showing an increase of 20° since yesterday at this 

 time. The country is rough ; the hills completely enveloped in forest 

 trees. The descent is still great. Arriving at the house of a squatter, 

 we put up for the night. Cascarilleros bring their bark here to deposit 

 it. The place is called Cueba. Three families live in bamboo houses ; 

 the men and women are engaged in clearing little patches of ground, 

 where they plant sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, peppers, plant- 

 ains, oranges, potatoes, watermelons, cotton, and yuca. Probably there 

 may be 40 acres in all cleared. Yuca serves for bread where they have 

 no flour ; it is a species of potato like the yam of Panama. It is a root 

 shaped like a beet, from a small tree, which grows to the height of a 

 man, with a trunk as large as his thumb, having crow-foot-shaped leaves 

 in a bunch at the top of the stalk. It is planted from cuttings in rows 

 apart, that the plant may be kept free of weeds. The yuca is valuable 

 and delicious, either boiled or roasted. The people are very fond of it, 

 and boast about the enormous size of some of them. I never saw one 

 more than 1 8 inches long, and of ten or twelve pounds weight ; gen- 

 erally smaller ; though seriously told by persons at a distance from their 

 habitation that in the Montana one is enough for a mule load. Yuca 

 is at once liked as a vegetable by most strangers. 



Clearing the land is a tiresome business ; trees cut down at the end 

 of the wet season, when they are full of sap, burn with great difficulty. 

 The brushwood and thick undergrowth is troublesome, though the soil 

 is very productive, after being well cleared. Our mules found a blue 

 grass, which springs up upon exposing the soil to the sun, and keeps 

 cattle in good order. The people are mostly Spanish Creoles, and seem 

 to lead a miserable life. Including cascarilleros, there are about twenty- 

 five people who may be said to belong to the houses. There are no 

 others in the neighborhood. They are glad to see travellers to hear 

 the news, for they are shut out from the world. This place might be 



