88 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



While we were thus engaged, our baggage car- 

 riers arrived with inteUigence that Mr. Catherwood 

 was taken ill, and they had left him lying in the 

 road. I immediately applied to the proprietor for a 

 coche and Indians, and he, with great alacrity, un- 

 dertook to get them ready ; in the mean time I sad- 

 dled my horse and hastened back to Mr. Cather- 

 wood, whom I found lying on the ground, with Al- 

 bino by his side, under the shade of the tree by the 

 fountain, with an ague upon him, wrapped up in all 

 the coverings he could muster, even to the saddle- 

 cloths of the horses. While he was in this state, 

 two men came along, bestriding the same horse, and 

 bringing sheets and ponchas to make a covering for 

 the coche ; then came a straggling line of Indians, 

 each with a long pole, and withes to lash them to- 

 gether ; and it was more than an hour before the 

 coche was ready. The path was narrow, and lined 

 on each side with thorn bushes, the spikes of which 

 stuck in the naked flesh of the Indians as they car- 

 ried the coche, and they were obhged to stop fre- 

 quently and disentangle themselves. On reaching 

 the ranch 0 I found Doctor Cabot down with a fever. 

 From the excitement and anxiety of following Mr. 

 Catherwood under the hot sun, and now finding 

 Doctor Cabot down, a cold shivering crept over me, 

 and in a few minutes we were all three in our ham- 

 mocks. A few hours had made a great change in 

 our condition ; and we came near bringing our host 

 down with us. He had been employed in preparing 



