IN PANAMA 
225 
panied by an Indian whom he had hypnotized by the gift of a real. 
They took a bee line for the shore, forded the Mariato, and on a little 
island that is half covered by the tide, hunted up a certain tree, strode 
away so many paces by compass, and started to dig. 
It was exciting to see how eagerly they plied pick and shovel, 
and how they started with joy when the pick struck a tree root. Arid 
they dug and dug until they suddenly awoke to the fact that they were 
cut off from the main land by the tide. Then the Indian went all to 
pieces and wept and called upon the saints, while the Prospector uttered 
words unfit for publication. There was no danger unless an alligator 
JUANCHO IN GROVE OF CASTILLOA PLANTED LV INDIANS. 
or a jaguar got them, and as there was no boat the best thing would 
have been to wait for the ebb. Instead of that, they went further into 
the thicket, and a few minutes later appeared, each with a pole, and 
stepping into the swiftly running water started to cross. Very slowly, 
bracing themselves at every step, they waded, the water up to their 
breasts, and finally emerged into the shallows and were ashore. Neither 
of them went back, and thus ended our only treasure hunt. 
The “gusano del monte,” or grub fly, was quite in evidence at the 
llanos. I got three, the scout seven, and the rest their share — just how 
