The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across the continent of South America.

182 THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON.
los, moreover, was a good man; he had an honest, Quakerlike air about him, and his face reminded us of George
Washington's. In all his transactions we noticed no attempt to prevaricate or deceive; what he promised he performed to the letter. It was refreshing to meet one such
upright soul in Ecuador, though we found him not of Caucasian blood, nor dwelling under the tiled roofs of the
proud capital. The old man was the spiritual father of
Papallacta, and, in the absence of the curate, officiated in
the little church. With him, therefore, and not with our
host the governor, we negotiated for peons to take us
through the wilderness.
The journey from Papallacta to the Napo occupied us
thirteen days, including four days of rest. It was performed on foot, for the "road" is a trail. But the untraveled
reader can have little idea of a trail in a tropical forest:
fording bridgeless rivers, wading through interminable
bogs, fens, marshes, quagmires, and swamps, and cutting
one's way through dense vegetation, must be done to be
understood. Half the year there is no intercourse between
Quito and its Oriental province, for the incessant heavy
rains of summer swell every rivulet into a furious torrent,
and the path is overgrown and rendered impassable even
by an Indian. The only time for travel is between November and April, for then, though it rains nearly every
day, the clouds drop down in showers, not floods. But
even then the traveler must sometimes wait two or three
weeks beside a swollen river in imminent danger of starving, and throughout the journey entertain the comforting
prospect that his Indians may eat up his provisions to lighten their load, or suddenly desert him as they did Dr. Jameson. There are other routes across South America much
more feasible than the one we chose; these will be described in Chapter XXIII. But th6y all yield in interest