200 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Ohap. XII.-B. S. 
a profitable business where, as is here the case, it 
could be carried on on a large scale, there being mil¬ 
lions of these oil-yielding palms. At a distance of 
sixteen miles we arrived at a rather considerable river, 
which we afterwards found to be the Eio Yolul of 
the Indians. We pitched our camp near a small que- 
brada, which was dashing over a flat rock into the 
river. Our hammocks were soon hung up, a fire kin¬ 
dled, and supper got ready. Distant thunder induced 
us to make a tent of our waterproof cloaks, but this 
precaution was unnecessary, as we had no rain, and 
only this day (June 6) have we had the first showers 
in the Chontales district. I have never traversed 
a wilderness like this without meeting some kind of 
animal life; but during the whole time which we 
spent in these forests there was not a single chance 
of firing off our guns—we did not even hear a tiger. 
On the next day we followed the southern banks of 
the river for about four miles; the bed is stony, and 
there is but a slight current, and here and there 
rapids. The banks are high, even, and never become 
inundated. There is a quantity of wild Cacao ( Theo - 
Iroma Cacao), and also of the small Cacao (Herrama 
purpurea ), which you took to England with you; of 
course, conclusive proof of the fertility of the soil. 
We also found a little sugar-cane, which may have 
been planted by the Indians., At twenty miles dis¬ 
tant we crossed the river, for- when Grunnow was 
working there he met with two canoes carrying six 
Indians, from whom he obtained some fish m ex¬ 
change for tobacco. One of the Indians spoke a little 
