412 



LAS JUNTAS. 



dian dance, where they kept beating |a drum 

 all night, and the grunting of more than a 

 score of pigs, directly beneath me, I did not 

 succeed in getting much sleep. 



Feb. 2d. Rose at daylight, and found the 

 river much increased. The Alcalde shortly 

 joined me, and told me it would be impossible 

 to go that day, as the river was not navigable ; 

 besides, the Indians had been dancing all 

 night, and most of them had got drunk, which 

 would incapacitate them for directing a canoe 

 steadily and safely, in a rapid and dangerous 

 river. After breakfast I walked out to inspect 

 the village, w^hich consisted of a church, and 

 twelve small houses, which latter are built 

 of canes, and the habitable part raised about 

 four feet from the ground; beneath, they keep 

 their pigs. 



The village is situated on a rising ground, 

 with a small piece of land cleared behind it, 

 where I saw a few cattle feeding, — the only re- 

 mains of a considerable stock, which had been 

 reared with much care by a speculating native 

 of the place ; all the rest had been destroyed 

 during the revolution. Pigs are almost their 

 only animal food. Pork is sold at about nine- 



