ra it commands a premium. On the Maranon it is
below par; Peruvian gold should therefore be bought at Guayaquil for
that part of the route. Also French _medios_, or quarter francs; they
will be very useful every where on the route, especially on the Upper
Amazon, where change is scarce. Fifty dollars' worth will not be too
many; for, as the Scotchman said of sixpences, "they are canny little
dogs, and often do the work of shillings." Take a passport for Brazil.
Leave behind your delicacies and superfluities of clothing; woolen
clothes will be serviceable throughout. A trunk for mountain travel
should not exceed 24 by 15 by 15 inches--smaller the better. Take a
rubber air-pillow and mattress: there is no bed between Guayaquil and
Para. A hammock for the Amazon can be bought on the Napo.

The Pacific Mail steamships, which leave New York on the first and
sixteenth of each month, connect at Panama without delay with the
British Steam Navigation line on the South Pacific. Fare, first-class,
from New York to Guayaquil, by way of Panama and Paita, $215, gold;
second-class, $128. Time to Panama, eight days; to Paita, four days; to
Guayaquil, one day. A coasting steamer leaves Panama for Guayaquil the
thirteenth of each month. There are two so-called hotels in Guayaquil.
"Los tres Mosqueteros," kept by Sr. Gonzales, is the best. Take a front
room ($1 per day), and board at the Fonda Italiana or La Santa Rosa ($1
per day). Here complete your outfit for the mountains: saddle, with
strong girth and crupper; saddle-bags, saddle-cover, sweat-cloth, and
bridle ($40, paper), woolen poncho ($9), rubber poncho ($4), blanket
($6), leggins, native spurs and stirrups, knife, fork, spoon, tea-pot,
chocolate (tea, pure and cheap, should be purchased at Panama), candles,
matches, soap, towels, and tarpaulin for wrapping up baggage. Convert
your draft into paper, _quantum sufficit_ for Guayaquil; the rest into
silver.

Besides this outer outfit, an inner one is needed--of patience without
stint. You will soon learn that it is one thing to plan and quite
another to execute. "To get out of the inn is one half of the journey"
is very appropriately a Spanish proverb. Spaniards do nothing
_d'appressado_ (in a hurry), but every thing _manana_ (to-morrow). You
will find fondas, horses, and roads divided into the bad, the worse, and
the worst, and bad is the best. But fret not thyself. "Serenity of
mind," wrote Humboldt, "almost the first requisite f