n manufacturing a thread called _pita_ from the leaves of the
aloe, which they carry to Quito for sale. Occasionally the men
collected vanilla. It is a graceful climber, belonging to the orchid
family. The stalk, the thickness of a finger, bears at each joint a
lanceolate and ribbed leaf a foot long and three inches broad. It has
large star-like white flowers, intermixed with stripes of red and
yellow, which fill the forest with delicious odours. They are succeeded
by long slender pods, containing numerous seeds imbedded in a thick oily
balsamic pulp. The seeds, which are highly esteemed, are used for
flavouring chocolate and other purposes. Monkeys are very fond of them,
and pick all they find, so that few are left on the wild plants for
man's use. Vanilla is, however, cultivated in Mexico and other parts of
the world. The Indians also collected copal. It is a gum which exudes
from a lofty leguminous tree, having a bark like that of the oak.

However, I must hurry on with an account of our journey. When we met
with no habitations on our way, we were compelled to build sheds in the
driest and most open spots we could find. At length, through an arched
opening in the forest, the bright sheen of water caught our eyes, and
hurrying on, we found ourselves standing on the bank of a stream, which
opened up to us a watery highway to the Atlantic.

Still, we were well aware that we had many dangers to encounter. For
many hundred leagues we could not hope to meet with Europeans, and
although the natives among whom we had hitherto travelled had been
friendly, we knew that numerous tribes existed along the banks of the
Amazon or its tributaries, who might prove hostile to strangers. Our
chief anxiety, however, was about our father and mother. When we might
once more meet, we could not tell. Still we felt sure that they would
not willingly proceed till we had overtaken them.

We had arrived at a part of the river at a distance from any native
village. We had therefore to depend on ourselves for the means of
making our intended voyage. We were prepared, however, to build canoes
of sufficient size for the accommodation of our reduced party.
Accordingly we set to work to erect huts of a more substantial character
than those we had hitherto built, in which we might live in some degree
of comfort till the work was accomplished. With the assistance of our
bearers, in a few hours we had a good-sized hut of bamboos put