THE BIVOUAC. 247 



found Mr. Catherwood warming himself by the blaze of 

 three 'or four young trees, which he had piled one upon 

 another. The wind was at this time sweeping furious- 

 ly over the plain. Night was approaching ; we had not 

 eaten anything since morning ; our small stock of pro- 

 visions was in unsafe hands, and we began to fear that 

 none would be forthcoming. Our mules were as badly 

 off. The pasture was so poor that they required a wide 

 range, and we let all go loose except my poor macho, 

 which, from certain roving propensities acquired before 

 he came into my possession, we were obliged to fasten 

 to a tree. It was some time after dark when Santiago 

 appeared with the alforgas of provisions on his back. 

 He had gone back six miles when he found the track 

 of Juan's foot, one of the squarest ever planted, and 

 followed it to a wretched hut in the woods, at which 

 we had expected to stop. "We had lost nothing by not 

 stopping; all they could get to bring away was four 

 eggs. We supped, piled up our trunks to windward, 

 spread our mats, lay down, gazed for a few moments 

 at the stars, and fell asleep. During the night the wind 

 changed, and we were almost blown away. 



The next morning, preparatory to entering once more 

 upon habitable regions, we made our toilet ; i. e., we 

 hung a looking-glass on the branch of a tree, and shaved 

 the upper lip and a small part of the chin. At a quar- 

 ter past seven we started, having eaten up our last frag- 

 ment. Since we left Guista we had not seen a human 

 being ; the country was still desolate and dreary ; there 

 was not a breath of air ; hills, mountains, and plains 

 were all barren and stony ; but, as the sun peeped 

 above the horizon, its beams gladdened this scene of 

 barrenness. For two hours we ascended a barren 

 stony mountain. Even before this the desolate fron- 



