338 DEPAllTUHE FOR IBAGUE. 



my exertions. This migratory life, although 

 attended with hardship, is not destitute of 

 pleasure. It affords great opportunities for 

 scrutinizing and reading the book of man, 

 and of laying up a large store of practical 

 knowledge for old age. 



At three o'clock a.m., I started for 

 Ibague, which I hoped to reach by five in 

 the evening. My guide had been dancing 

 and drinking all night, so much so, that he 

 could scarcely sit his horse. He was at first 

 very talkative, making a great merit of hav- 

 ing quitted the feast and his friends ; he 

 praised his country, and his native town, 

 abusing all others as not comparable to 

 them ; but finding that I did not encourage 

 his questions, he ceased, and fell asleep, 

 which 1 discovered by his horse deviating 

 considerably from the pathway. I shook him 

 until I awoke him, and kept him aroused by 

 perpetual questions, until I reached a smal^ 



