"Truly, truly," answered the landlord, bowing to me. "Milord will be glad to return to England, where all, I am told, are true Royalists." "Milord does not understand much Spanish," observed Mr Laffan; "we must wish you farewell." As we might have risked discovery by further delay, we rode forward; Domingo, armed to the teeth, following us. Mr Laffan, I found, had two brace of pistols in his holsters, and a sword, which he kept concealed under his cloak. I, of course, carried one in my character of a young gentleman of fortune, and I also had a brace of pistols; so that we were tolerably well-armed. Mr Laffan, who had taken the passport, produced it with a flourish at the gates, and begged that milord might not be troubled with unnecessary delay. The officer on guard bowed politely, and we were allowed to pass. I had little expected to get on so well, but no one seemed to suspect our character. As soon as we were out of sight of the city, we pushed forward, anxious to get as far as we could before nightfall. Our road was to be due north for a considerable distance, along the banks of the Cauca. After this we were to turn to the right over the Quindio mountains to reach Bogota. Our great object was to push on to such a distance from Popayan, that I might not run the risk of being recognised by any persons who knew me. The letters I carried were couched in such language, that had they fallen into the hands of the Spaniards I should still have been safe. They spoke of me as a young Englishman of fortune who had come over to see the beauties of the country, and who proposed to spend a short time at Bogota on his way down the Magdalena to Cartagena, from whence he expected to embark for England. They requested that the friends to whom they were addressed would render him every assistance in carrying out the objects of his journey, especially in obtaining any information he might desire. They were mostly addressed to well-known Royalists, still better to conceal my real object. I cannot stay to describe the numerous incidents of the journey. The first night we stopped at the house of the padre of a village. I found him to be a man of liberal sentiments, from what he said to Mr Laffan; though, keeping up my character, I did not venture to speak. At first I felt surprised at this; but I afterwards discovered that he possessed a Bible, which he constantly studied. "You Englishmen appreciate the book," he observed to my tutor; "but I have, on several occasions, been compelled to hide it, lest I should be accused of being an enemy to Spain."