Such things went far to take away the first enthusiasm and to
leave the travelers in rather a sad and weary-eyed state.
By the third day the river narrowed and became swifter. With luck the
voyagers reached Gorgona on a high bluff. This was usually the end of
the river journey. Most people bargained for Cruces six miles beyond,
but on arrival decided that the Gorgona trail would be less crowded, and
with unanimity went ashore there. Here the bargaining had to be started
all over again, this time for mules. Here also the demand far exceeded
the supply, with the usual result of arrogance, indifference, and high
prices. The difficult ride led at first through a dark deep wood in clay
soil that held water in every depression, seamed with steep eroded
ravines and diversified by low passes over projecting spurs of a chain
of mountains. There the monkeys and parrots furnished the tropical
atmosphere, assisted somewhat by innumerable dead mules along the trail.
Vultures sat in every tree waiting for more things to happen. The trail
was of the consistency of very thick mud. In this mud the first mule
had naturally left his tracks; the next mules trod carefully in the
first mule's footprints, and all subsequent mules did likewise. The
consequence was a succession of narrow deep holes in the clay into which
an animal sank half-way to the shoulder.
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