100 
LUDICROUS ISCIDRKT. 
We supposed that a small wood of plantain-trees con* 
cealed from us the ' hut of the farm ; hut this man, so proud 
of his nobility and the colour of his shin, had not taken the 
trouble of constructing even an ajowpa, or hut of palm- 
leaves. He invited us to have our hammocks hung near 
Ids 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 (baxo 
techo). We soon had reason to complain of a system ot 
philosophy which is indulgent to indolence, and renders a 
man indifferent to the conveniences of life. A furious wind 
arose after midnight, lightnings flashed over the horizon, 
thunder rolled, and we were wet to the skin. During this 
storm a whimsical incident served to amuse us for a moment. 
Dona Isabella’s cat had perched upon the tamarind-tree, 
at the foot of which we lay. It fell into the hammock of 
one of our companions, who, being hurt by the claws of the 
cat, and suddenly aroused from a profound sleep, imagined 
he was attacked by somo wild beast of the forest. We ran 
to him on hearing his cries, and had some trouble to con- 
vince him of his error. Whale it rained in torrents on our 
hammocks and on our instruments which we had brought 
ashore, Don Ignacio congratulated us on our good fortune 
in not sleeping on the strand, hut finding ourselves in hi* 
domain, among whites and persons of respectability (entre 
gcnte blancay de trato). Wet as we were, we could not 
easily persuade ourselves of the advantages of our situation, 
and we listened with some impatience to the long narrative 
our host gave us of Ms pretended expedition to the B l0 
Meta, of the valour lie had displayed in a sanguinary com- 
bat with the Guahibo Indians, and “the services that he 
had rendered to God and his king, in carrying away India’ 1 
children (Ins lndiecitos) from their parents, to distribute 
them in the Missions.” We were struck with the sing 11 " 
laxity of finding in that vast solitude a man believing him- 
self "to be of European race and knowing no other shelter 
than the shade of a tree, and yet having all the vain pr e ' 
tensions, hereditary prejudices, and errors of long-standing 
civilization! 
On the 1st of April, at sunrise, we quitted Senor D°“ 
Ignacio and Sefiora Dona Isabella his wife. The weatho* 
