JOUUNEY. 



403 



they might do as they pleased, 1 and my ser- 

 vant would take possession of the rancha they 

 had erected ; and that they, if they did not 

 choose to buiid one, might sleep in the rain. 

 Knowing I was well armed, and finding me 

 determined, they at last made me a tent, to 

 which I was obliged to be assisted, as my 

 pained limbs would scarcely allow me to 

 walk. My food was very bad, chiefly choco- 

 late and biscuit; for I did not like the salt 

 pork or beef, nor indeed would my stomach 

 bear them. The cold on this spot was ex- 

 cessive, and the air very raw and damp. 



Jan. 28th. Constant torrents of rain. Road, 

 if possible, worse than yesterday. Had often 

 to go through narrow passes, between banks 

 twenty feet high, and almost dark, from the 

 quantity of vegetable matter grown over head, 

 'My silltro found himself so unwell from rheu- 

 matism in his neck, that I was obliged to get 

 another 'peon to convey the chair. In the even- 

 ing arrived at El Choro de Pajea, a small cot- 

 tage built of reeds, or a kind of bamboo ; the 

 habitable part raised about four or five feet 

 from the ground ; below, they generally keep 

 their pigs, — delightful companions to put one 

 2 D 2 



