The Guahivos. 311 
visited San Martin for purposes of barter. The Spanish 
Conquistadores had never subjugated them, and it was 
commonly reported that no one had ever visited their 
habitations. As I held the same opinion as " Walking 
Stewart/ 1 that no tribe of people would wantonly injure 
one who unreservedly threw himself upon their hospitality, 
the gloomy forebodings expressed by my friends in 
St. Martin, had but little influence upon me. It was 
useless to look for a guide, nor did I want one. Their 
villages were known to be on the left bank of the river 
Ariare, which runs past San Martin, I had therefore 
only to ride down the broad savannah, keeping the 
forest of the Ariare on my right hand, and I must 
eventually arrive at my destination. 
I set out from San Martin riding a good mule, and 
taking with me sufficient food for a few days, armed also 
with a double-barrelled breech-loader and a revolver, 
more as a means of obtaining food and as a prote&ion 
against wild beasts, than as any defence against the 
Indians. After six hours riding I reached the last cul- 
tivation of the Columbians, where there lived a family 
engaged in the business of stock-raising — the only occu- 
pation on these glorious plains, so well suited for it — and 
here I passed the night. My host informed me that, after 
a ride of two hours from his house, I should meet a range 
of small hills, which divided the watersheds of the rivers 
Ariare and Manacacias, and that my best way would 
be to make my way along the ridge. Soon after leaving 
the ranch on the next morning, I came upon these hills, 
which formed a mountain chain in miniature; and never 
has it been my lot to visit a more lovely country. The 
central ridge was from two to three hundred feet above 
RR 2 
