therefore needed, for to die of starvation in the wilderness was, for
all practical purposes, equivalent to falling into the hands of
cannibals. As it turned out, however, we made a most fortunate hit, for
on arriving at Pebas--the first village on the Maranon--we found we had
just enough solid food left to have one grand jubilee dinner.

[Footnote 107: The scarcity of game is well illustrated by the fate of
Pizarro and his comrades. In returning from their expedition to the Napo
country, they nearly perished with hunger, living on lizards, dogs,
horses, saddles, sword-belts, etc., and reached Quito looking more like
spectres than men.]

For the benefit of future travelers, and for the curiosity of others, we
give the bill of fare we provided for this journey--stomachs, five;
time, forty-two days:

Flour 100 lbs.
Corn meal 27 "
Pea flour 30 "
Mashka 47 "
Crackers 100 "
Rice 50 "
Sugar 90 "
Chocolate 25 "
Dried meat[108] 47 "
Salt 10 "
Lard 10 "
Cream tartar 1-1/2 "
Soda 1 "
Tea 2 "
Ham 10 "
Tamarinds 9 "
Eggs 170.
Anisado pts. 5.

[Footnote 108: "Jerked beef," as it is called in South America, consists
of thin strips cut off the carcass after skinning and dried in the sun.
The butchers do not distinguish between sirloin and round.]

To this we added by purchase from the Indians a few chickens and eggs,
five gallons of sirup, and a peck of rice; and on the river we helped
ourselves to a little wild game, as fish, peccari, deer, and turtles'
eggs. But these made only a drop in the commissary bucket; had we
depended upon finding provisions on the road, we must have perished from
sheer hunger. Game, in the dry season, is exceedingly scarce. Our
provisions were packed in kerosene cans, a part of which were soldered
up to keep out moisture (for the Valley of the Napo is a steaming
vapor-bath) and to keep out the hands of Indians. More than once have
these treacherous yet indispensable guides robbed the white man of his
food, and then left him to his fate; we lost not a pound by theft. A
four-gallon keg of aguardiente,[109] from which we dealt out half a gill
daily to each man, kept our Indians in good humor.

[Footnote 109: This is the rum of the Andes, corresponding to the
_cashaca_ of Brazil. It is distilled from sugar-cane. When
do