431 



having ever quitted the banks of the Apure, he 

 took a lively interest " in the news of Madrid, 

 in those wars which never ended, and in every 

 thing down yonder ; todas las cosas de alia." 

 He knew, that the king was soon to come and 

 visit <<r the grandees of the country of Caraccas," 

 but, added he with some pleasantry, " as the 

 people of the court can eat only wheaten bread, 

 they will never pass beyond the town of Victoria, 

 and we shall not see them here." I had brought 

 with me a chiguire, which I had intended to 

 have roasted; but our host assured us, that 

 such " Indian game" was not food fit for nos 

 otros cavalier os b Ian cos, " white gentlemen like 

 him and me." Accordingly he offered us some 

 venison, which he had killed the day before 

 with an arrow, for he had neither powder nor 

 fire-arms. 



We supposed, that a small wood of plantain 

 trees concealed from us the hut of the farm : 

 but this man, so proud of his nobility and the 

 colour of his skin, had not taken the trouble of 

 constructing an ajoupa of palm-leaves. He in- 

 vited us to have our hammocks hung near his 

 own, between two trees ; and he assured us with 

 an air of complacency, that, if we came up the 

 river in the rainy season, we should find him 

 beneath a roof *. We soon had reason to com- 



* Baxo techo. 



