heir light boat went splendidly; they were spared
many of the ceremonious visitations that had fallen upon their captain,
and often, during the day, made two miles of progress to one made by
him over the same stretch of river. Each sunset found them nearer and
nearer to the main body, and they were quick to notice that the latter
were going slower and slower every day.

The country was no longer monotonously flat, as it had been whilst the
river swept along through the llanos. Hills now rose up to right and
left; great mountains loomed up dimly against the skyline; and the low,
muddy banks gave way to towering limestone cliffs, their natural
whiteness hidden by the luxuriant, clinging vegetation. Shallows in
the river were no longer sandy and sluggish, but rapids were the
dangers to navigation. The air was cooler and fresher, the vegetation
was that of drier soil and drier atmosphere, insect life was less
noxious, and the labours of the way grew more endurable.

But as the perils from nature decreased, those to be apprehended from
man increased. The adventurers had long passed the most southerly
point of Spanish influence. Hitherto they had found docile Indians,
who had learned to fear the white man and his strange weapons, and to
hate one section of the white race--namely, the Spanish. The
Englishmen were white, and possessed the moral power of the race over
ruder peoples; they also came as foes and rivals to those who
ill-treated the long-suffering native; hence they had been everywhere
treated with awe, not unmixed with real affection. As far as the
inhabitants of the land were concerned, their voyage had been a sort of
triumphal procession.

But inhabitants of hilly or mountainous land are always hardier and
less docile than their brethren of the fat plains. The Indians on the
hilly fringes of the Orinoco basin were no exception to this rule.
They had heard of the white man; refugees from the lower lands had
spread reports of his rapacity and cruelty, and of the scorn with which
he treated the poor brown man. They were resolved that he should not
lay hands on them or their treasures without a struggle. And so it
came to pass that one day the messengers of Captain Drake returned to
him with reports of a very rough reception from a native dignitary.

Although annoyed by this rebuff, the adventurers attached but little
importance to it. Perhaps the native messenger had been clumsy over
his diplomatic de