ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
in fits of laughter at Benedicto, who did not laugh at all, 
but pawed himself all over, saying he must have broken 
some bones. When I proceeded to examine him, I found 
upon his body over a hundred sauba ants, clinging to his 
skin with their powerful clippers. 
Aching all over, poor Benedicto got up once more. 
I put the load upon his back and we resumed our jour¬ 
ney, making a precipitous descent almost a pic down the 
hillside. Our knees were so weak that we fell many times 
and rolled down long distances on that steep incline. At 
last we got to the bottom, rejoicing in our hearts that we 
had no more hills to climb, as I had made up my mind 
that I would now march slightly to the northwest, so as 
to avoid the hilly region which Benedicto had discovered 
to the west. 
My men had an idea that the great river we were 
looking for must be in that plain. For a few hours they 
seemed to have regained their courage. We heard some 
piercing shrieks, and we at once proceeded in their di¬ 
rection, as we knew they came from monkeys. In fact 
we found an enormously high tree, some five feet in 
diameter. Up on its summit some beautiful yellow fruit 
stared us in the face. Four tiny monkeys were busy 
eating the fruit. Benedicto, who had by that time be¬ 
come very religious, joined his hands and offered prayers 
to the Virgin that the monkeys might drop some fruit 
down, but they went on eating while we gazed at them 
from below. We tried to fire at them with the Mauser, 
hut again not a single cartridge went off. Eventually 
the monkeys dropped down the empty shells of the fruit 
they had eaten. With ravenous appetites we rushed for 
them, and with our teeth scraped off the few grains of 
sweet substance which remained attached to the inside of 
the shells. We waited and waited under that tree for a 
long time, Filippe now joining also in the prayers. Each 
time a shell dropped, our palates rejoiced for a few 
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