1851.] 
ARRIVAL AT JAVITA. 
249 
my memory, and many a tale of the fierceness and cun- 
ning of the jaguar were not to be forgotten. At length 
we came to the clearing I had reached two days before, 
and I now knew that we had but a short distance to go. 
There were however several small streams to cross. 
Suddenly we would step into water, which we felt but 
could not see, and then had to find the narrow bridge 
crossing it. Of the length of the bridge, its height 
above the water, or the depth of the stream, we were 
entirely ignorant ; and to walk along a trunk four inches 
wide under such circumstances, was rather a nervous 
matter. We proceeded, placing one foot before the 
other, and balancing steadily, till we again felt ourselves 
on firm ground. On one or two occasions I lost my 
balance, but it was luckily only a foot or two to the 
ground and water below, though if it had been twenty 
it would have been all the same. Some half-dozen of 
brooks and bridges like this had to be passed, and 
several little ups and downs in the road, till at length, 
emerging from the pitchy shade upon an open space, we 
saw twinkling lights, which told us the village was 
before us. 
In about a quarter of an hour more we reached it, 
and, knocking at a door, asked where the Commissario 
lived. We were directed to a house on the other side 
of the square, where an old man conducted us to the 
“ Casa de na^ao ” (a shed with a door), in which were 
all my goods. On asking him if he could furnish me 
something for supper, he gave us some smoked turtle’s 
eggs and a piece of salt fish, and then left us. We 
soon made a fire with some sticks we found, roasted our 
