THE QUELLO. 339 



village, about seven o'clock. Here I deter- 

 mined to rest the horses, and went to the 

 house of the curate, who kindly welcomed 

 me, and gave me breakfast. My guide laid 

 himself down to sleep in the veranda, and 

 reposed until nine, when I aroused him ; 

 and saddling the horses, we proceeded over 

 the plains, at a round pace, until mid-day, 

 when the burning rays of the meridian sun 

 compelled us to stop at a cottage, where 

 I obtained a fowl, stewed in rice, for my 

 dinner ; after which f slept in my ham- 

 mock for a couple of hours. At half-past 

 two once more on the road, which was quite 

 a plain, uniform savannah, with a few dwarf 

 trees and brushwood scattered here and 

 there. At four arrived at the Quello, a ra- 

 pid, strong river, where travellers are some- 

 times detained for days, until it is sufficient- 

 ly shallow to pass, which fortunately was 

 now the case. When on the point of ford- 

 ing the river, a curious incident occurred ; I 

 % 2 



