"Bolivar stood on the shore gazing at these [the gunboats] in despair, and continued disconsolately parading in front of them, when Paez, who had been on the look out, rode up and inquired the cause of his disquietude. His Excellency observed: 'I would give the world to have possession of the Spanish flotilla, for without it I can never cross the river, and the troops are unable to march.' 'But it shall be yours in an hour,' replied Paez. 'It is impossible,' said Bolivar; 'and the men must all perish.' 'Leave that to me,' rejoined Paez, and galloped off. In a few minutes he returned, bringing up his guard of honour, consisting of 300 lancers selected from the main body of the Llaneros for their proved bravery and strength, and, leading them to the bank, thus addressed them: 'We must have these _flecheres_ or die. Let those follow Tio who please' ('Tio,' or 'uncle,' was the popular name by which Paez was known to his men), and at the same time, spurring his horse, pushed into the river and swam towards the flotilla. The guard followed him with their lances in hand, now encouraging their horses to bear up against the current by swimming by their sides and patting their necks, and then shouting to scare away the alligators, of which there were hundreds in the river, until they reached the boats, when, mounting their horses, they sprang from their backs on board them, headed by their leader, and, to the astonishment of those who beheld them from the shore, captured every one of them. To English officers it may appear inconceivable that a body of cavalry, with no other arms than their lances, and no other mode of conveyance across a rapid river than their horses, should attack and take a fleet of gunboats amidst shoals of alligators; but, strange as it may seem, it was actually accomplished, and there are many officers now in England who can testify to the truth of it." It will be evident from exploits such as these that the Venezuelans were fortunate in their leaders. After a while Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, began to see that the materialization of his lifelong ideal was now no longer a matter of the dim distant future. The struggle had been severe, and the fortunes of war had proved fickle at the beginning. At one period it had seemed that even Nature had fought against the South American cause. At Barquisimeto an earthquake had shattered the barracks of the soldiers of the Independence, and many hundreds of troops were crushed beneath the ruins.