, but they
were of little use for any other purpose; and though we heard some
parrots and other birds uttering various notes in the trees, it was too
dark to see them. Still, as it could not be helped, we were about to
make our usual preparations for spending the night, when Tim exclaimed
that he saw a light some distance ahead; and as it probably proceeded
from a hut, or perhaps from a habitation of more importance, he proposed
that we should ride forward towards it. My uncle, with his usual
wariness, was unwilling to allow this, fearing that it might proceed
from the camp of a party of Spaniards or Indians. I offered, therefore,
to make my way to it, and ascertain whether we were likely to meet with
a friendly reception. To this he consented, provided I took care not to
be discovered.

Carrying my rifle in one hand, and a stick, with which to feel my way,
in the other, I directed my steps towards the light. As I approached
it, I crept forward slowly, concealing myself behind the shrubs which
grew thickly around. As I advanced I saw that there were several
lights, and I heard voices, with now and then the sound of laughter.
"If they are enemies, they are jolly ones," I said to myself; "there is
nothing very dreadful here, I suspect."

Creeping on a few paces and looking over the bushes, I saw, in an open
spot surrounded by trees, at a short distance from the river's brink,
four Indians clothed in jackets and trousers, each holding a torch in
his hand, and in their centre the head and shoulders of a jovial friar
(for that he was a friar I knew by his shorn crown) just rising above a
huge cask sunk in the ground. The friar was evidently enjoying a bath,
though he was taking it in a somewhat curious fashion--as I at once
guessed, to avoid any risk of being carried off by an alligator. Now he
sank himself up to his chin in the refreshing fluid, now up he popped
again like a Jack-in-the-box; now down he went, and then up he came
again, holding on by the edge of the cask,--his Indian attendants
meanwhile watching him, as grave as judges.

At first I doubted whether I ought to intrude on the bather; but as he
showed no inclination to get out, I thought that I might venture to pay
my respects to him, and at the same time ask him to afford us shelter in
his house, which I knew could not be far off! I accordingly advanced,
and taking off my hat, saluted him with a polite bow. The Indians, who
were crouching down in