276 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



able. My fear lest he should break down or stumble was 

 excessive. To my extreme relief, the path turned away ; 

 but I had hardly congratulated myself upon my escape 

 before he descended a few steps. This was much worse 

 than ascending ; if he fell, nothing could keep me from 

 going over his head ; but I remained till he put me 

 down of his own accord. The poor fellow was wet 

 with perspiration, and trembled in every limb. Anoth- 

 er stood ready to take me up, but I had had enough. 

 Pawling tried it, but only for a short time. . It was bad 

 enough to see an Indian toiling with a dead weight on 

 his back ; but to feel him trembling under one's own 

 body, hear his hard breathing, see the sweat rolling 

 down him, and feel the insecurity of the position, made 

 this a mode of travelling which nothing but constitu- 

 tional laziness and insensibility could endure. Walk- 

 ing, or rather climbing, stopping very often to rest, 

 and riding when it was at all practicable, we reached 

 a thatched shed, where we wished to stop for the night, 

 but there was no water. 



We could not understand how far it was to Nopa, 

 our intended stopping-place, which we supposed to be 

 on the top of the mountain. To every question the In- 

 dians answered una legua. Thinking it could not be 

 much higher, we continued. For an hour more we had 

 a very steep ascent, and then commenced a terrible 

 descent. At this time the sun had disappeared ; dark 

 clouds overhung the woods, and thunder rolled heavily 

 on the top of the mountain. As we descended a heavy 

 wind swept through the forest ; the air was filled with 

 dry leaves ; branches were snapped and broken, trees 

 bent, and there was every appearance of a violent tor- 

 nado. To hurry down on foot was out of the question. 

 We were so tired that it was impossible ; and, afraid of 



