DEPARTURE FROM BOGOTA^. 297 



in or near the capital ; for T have known 

 taxes to a considerable amount to come io 

 at ten in the morning, and at four in the 

 evening not a shilling left in the treasury. 

 Those far from the scene of government are 

 too often forgotten ; and to a most wretched 

 degree of distress have the armies in the 

 distant part of the republic been reduced, 

 for want of the necessary means to procure 

 food and clothing. 



On the 1 0th of December, I paid all my 

 farewell visits ; and on the 11th, at four in 

 the evening, left Bogota, accompanied by a 

 number of my friends, who escorted me to 

 a considerable distance in the plain, where 

 a jovial member of the party produced a 

 bottle, and we drank farewell to each other, 

 with many wishes expressed for meeting 

 again in Old England. 



