The white _gallinazo_ is not so common, and is popularly supposed to be the king of the flock. While on the Cauca Railway I saw one feeding on a dead mule, while all the common _urubús_ stood on one side, waiting until he had had enough. The Indians (as well as many of the "whites") are very superstitious in regard to this bird, and consider its appearance as a good omen. Having shot nothing eatable, we reached a promising-looking _playa_ at two o'clock and disembarked in search of some more turtle-eggs. We were busily engaged in excavating a nest, when Perkins saw a solitary canoe slowly making its way up-stream. Approaching the bank, we hailed the strangers, and they began to steer in our direction; as they came nearer we saw that they were all Indians, except one, who was a well-dressed, elderly white man. It was then that we became conscious of our clothes, or rather of our lack of them, for I was dressed only in a torn shirt, an equally torn pair of trousers, and a wide Stetson hat, while Perkins was clad only in a long shirt and his flowing beard. Mastering our embarrassment, we introduced ourselves to the old man, who proved to be none other than Don Rogerio Becerra, the gentleman who had escorted the exiles down to the Caraparaná, from whence he was now returning to Mocoa. He seemed to be a very pleasant and agreeable man, and we held quite a conversation with him, in the course of which he informed us that the _Corregidor_, Don Gabriel Martínez, to whom Jurado had given us a letter, was on his way up also with his police force, and that we might expect to meet him in a couple of days. After a little more conversation he presented us with a live _charapilla_, of which he had several, and slowly resumed his long and tedious journey. After unearthing the rest of the eggs, we, too, set out and continued our trip without any further incidents until about half-past five, when we stopped at a large _playa_. While I was engaged in cooking the dinner here, Perkins went out for a prowl with the shot-gun and succeeded in getting a large duck. The following morning, December 22nd, we got an early start at six o'clock and continued the trip without incident until ten o'clock, when, owing to the stifling heat, we drew up to a beach and put up a new _pamacari_-frame, over which we laid our mosquito-bars to make a little shade. No sooner was this accomplished than the sun disappeared behind a cloud, a strong wind arose, and it began to rain in torrents. This kept up for some two hours, and, of course, we got soaked; at the end of this time, however, the sun came out again as hot as ever, and in another two hours we were dry.