324 



not flatter ourselves, that our guides, of whom 

 we knew the insuperable indolence, would come 

 in search of us in the savannah before they had 

 prepared their food, and finished their repast. 

 In proportion to the uncertainty of our situation^ 

 we were agreeably affected by hearing from afar 

 the sound of a horse advancing toward us. 

 The rider was an Indian armed with a lance, 

 who had just made the rodeo, or round, in order 

 to collect the cattle within a determinate space 

 of ground. The sight of two white men, who 

 said they had lost their way, led him at first to 

 suspect some trick. We found it difficult to 

 inspire him with confidence ; he at last con- 

 sented to guide us to the farm of the Cayman, 

 bat without slackening the gentle trot of his 

 horse. Our guides assured us, that " they had 

 already begun to be uneasy about us and, to 

 justify this inquietude, they gave a long enume- 

 ration of persons, who, having lost themselves 

 in the Llanos, had been found nearly exhausted. 

 It may be supposed, that the danger is imminent 

 only to those, who lose themselves far from any 

 habitation ; or who, having been stripped by 

 robbers, which has happened of late years, have 

 been fastened by the body and hands to the 

 trunk of a palm-tree. 



In order to suffer less from the heat of the 

 day, we set off at two in the morning, with tiie 

 hope of reaching Calabozo before noon, a little 



