We had learned beforehand that there were no Spanish posts within fifty miles, for the land was barren and empty even of Indians.
So for ten days we rowed and poled through a flat plain, sweating mightily, till we came in sight of mountains.

At that we looked for more comfort, for the road on our chart now led away from the river up a side valley.

There we hoped for fruits, since it was their season, and for deer; and 'twas time, for our blood was thick with rotten victuals." The man shivered, as if the recollection had still terrors for him.
"If ever the Almighty permitted hell on earth 'twas that valley.

There was no stream in it and no verdure.

Oathsome fleshy shrubs, the colour of mouldy copper, dotted the slopes, and a wilderness of rocks through which we could scarce find a road.