1861.] 
NEW COEFEE. 
263 
among the Indians dropped in, and were rather sur- 
I prised to see me lighting my fire and preparing my 
; dinner ; and on my explaining the circumstances to them, 
they exclaimed that my Indians were ‘‘ mala gente” (bad 
fellows), and intimated that they had always thought 
I them no better than they should be. I got some of the 
, boys to fetch me water from the river, and to bring 
me in a stock of fuel, and then, with coffee and cheese, 
roasted plantains and cassava-bread, I lived luxuriously. 
I My coffee however was just finished, and in a day or 
I two I had none. This I could hardly put up with 
I without a struggle, so I went down to the cottage of an 
I old Indian who could speak a little Spanish, and begged 
him, '' por amor de Dios,’’ to get me some coffee from 
a small plantation he had. There were some ripe ber- 
ries on the trees, the sun was shining out, and he pro- 
mised to set his little girl to work immediately. This 
was about ten in the naorning. I went into the forest, 
and by four returned, and found that my coffee was 
ready. It had been gathered, the pulp washed off, 
dried in the sun (the longest part of the business), husked, 
roasted, and pounded in a mortar ; and in half an hour 
more I enjoyed one of the most delicious cups of coffee 
I have ever tasted. 
As I wanted to remain a fortnight longer, I tried to 
persuade one of the brown damsels of the village to come 
and make my fire and cook for me ; but, strange to say, 
not one would venture, though in the other villages of 
the Rio Negro I might at any moment have had my 
choice of half-a-dozen ; and I was forced to be my own 
cook and housemaid for the rest of my stay in Javita. 
