Late in the year, while they were quieting the Colombian frontier, he received a commission which would have made an English aide-de-camp stare; his uncle sent for him, and told him without preliminary that he was to ride back to the Orinoco plains, catch three thousand wild horses, and bring them to the camp for the extra cavalrymen who had enlisted. "Take three troopers with you; it is all I can spare; it will probably be enough." Of course, Ramon Paez did not question his last remark, but he had his own opinion on the subject. "You can take three extra horses; two to carry your provisions, and the third you can load up with presents for the Indians." So; it was the Indians who were to do the work! Young Paez had almost left them out of his calculations. The presents--beads, knives, briar pipes, condemned small arms, etc.--were soon collected and packed, and the four men rode away in search of natives and horses. The Indians were not easy to find; at least not the Indians of the right sort; of the wrong sort--idlers, camp-followers, and hangers-on, who had quarrelled with hard work the day they were born and never become reconciled--there were plenty. But it was not till they reached the Orinoco and had travelled down it for a couple of days, that they came across any who looked like the men they wanted. These were fishing, and the workmanlike way in which they went about their task augured well for the success of the aide-de-camp's mission. He entered into conversation with them and learned that, some miles farther south, horses of a very fine breed were plentiful; and, after a hint from him as to pecuniary reward and a probable distribution of presents, they agreed to refer the matter to their cacique, and if he should raise no objection, to start on the morrow. The young Venezuelan watched the native sport with keen interest, for, till lately, he had seen nothing of the kind since his childhood. The net--a kind of ground-seine--was rectangular, with a square flap at either end, and the back weighted at right angles to the bottom; in fact, while it was down, it might be likened in shape to an enormous box which has had the lid and one of its sides removed. It was shot from two canoes about fifty yards from the bank, its back and ends being stiffened and kept in place by canes, or lengths of _palma morice_ stalks. When it had been down for about half an hour, the two canoes--strictly keeping pace with one another--moved so slowly towards the bank, that scarcely a ripple was made; the tow-lines were thrown ashore, and the net dragged into the shallow.