My expedition Guianaward was the hardest trip I have ever undertaken and yet one of the most interesting. We had to make our own trail and though I had a dozen men with me it was a tremendous task to cut our way through the thick underbrush, never before disturbed, which often barred our progress. We could carry few supplies, but it was easy to live off the country, for there was enough game to feed an army. Not knowing what to make of us, the jaguar, puma, tapir, and ocelot came so close that they were easily shot, while overhead were millions of monkeys, parrots, and macaws, to say nothing of great snakes that would have made the fortune of a menagerie manager. At long intervals, living on the banks of rivers, we encountered a few wild Indians, who were terrified until they found we were not tax collectors sent out by the government to take them into slavery on account of their inability to pay extortionate taxes, which are levied for no other purpose than to compel them to work for years without pay. When they became convinced that we meant them no harm they were very friendly and generously offered us things to eat, which I was afraid to touch. They never had seen a white man before, and I regretted that some of my friends were not hidden in the bushes to witness the reverence they showed me. They were armed with bows and arrows, which they used with wonderful accuracy, and crudely fashioned spears, and wore nothing much but feathers in their hair. They lived on fish and game, with yams and plantains, and sometimes corn, as side dishes, and native fruits for dessert, and they were the healthiest looking people I have ever seen. I pushed into this veritable paradise for all of a hundred miles, which carried me close to the border, and discovered one outcropping of gold which will some day be developed into a rich property. Our progress was so slow that it was two months before we were back in Catalina.