Yesterday
evening I took a change of clothes out of the damp saddle-bags, and
put them into what I hoped was a dry place, but they were soaked,
wetter even than those in which I had been sleeping, and my boots
and Deborah's were so stiff, that we gladly availed ourselves of
Kaluna's most willing services. The mode of washing was peculiar:
he held a calabash with about half-a-pint of water in it, while we
bathed our faces and hands, and all the natives looked on and
tittered. This was apparently his idea of politeness, for no
persuasion would induce him to put the bowl down on the mat, and
Deborah evidently thought it was proper respect. We had a
repetition of the same viands as the night before for breakfast,
and, as before, the women lay with their chins on their pillows and
stared at us.
The rain ceased almost as soon as we started, and though it has not
been a bright day, it has been very pleasant. There are no large
gulches on to-day's journey. The track is mostly through long
grass, over undulating uplands, with park-like clumps of trees, and
thickets of guava and the exotic sumach. Different ferns, flowers,
and vegetation, with much less luxuriance and little water, denoted
a drier climate and a different soil.
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