and having armed ourselves with guns and ammunition, and taking as much provisions as we could conveniently carry, we set out on our journey. Concerning provisions, however, we did not from the first feel the slightest apprehension, for birds of a kind I had never seen before were plentiful, and so tame that we could easily pick them off the trees with the hand. They had in all probability never seen a human being before.
The country was very rugged and broken, so we travelled along the passes, whenever we could find them; but frequently we had to clamber over the mountain ranges the best way we could. We crossed range after range, running nearly parallel to one another, and gradually going higher and higher, the chain presenting its steep acclivities to us. From this we knew that the slope on the opposite side would probably be more gradual, if we could only manage to get there. We could not measure time by day and night, for it was always day. So we walked till we became exhausted, then ate, slept, ate again, and went on. We found the appearance of the country changed as we proceeded: vegetation was becoming more dense and varied, the trees taller, and small animals more numerous. The undergrowth and vines now began
