Dismounting, they took the bits from the horses' mouths, leaving them at liberty to crop the luxuriant grass on the banks of the river.
"The time has come, Estevan," said Don Fernando, "when I must teach you something, without which it would be impossible to avoid the dangers we are about to encounter; I must reveal a secret known only to us, 'the bee-hunters.' Hardly two leagues farther on, we shall have to enter the swamps, swarming with serpents, and we must take the requisite precautions against their fatal bite, for every reptile we shall meet on the road will be of the most venomous species."
"The devil!" ejaculated Don Estevan, turning somewhat pale.
"I will give you a lesson. When we have once put on our armour, we can trample with impunity on the heads of the most dangerous."
"¡Caray!" replied Don Estevan; "your secret is worth knowing."
"You shall prove it soon. Come with me. Of course you are acquainted with the guaco?"
"Certainly. I have often helped it in his battles with snakes."
"Very well. I dare say you are ignorant of the means this intelligent bird employs to heal the wounds in the mortal combats which always terminate in the destruction of the reptile?"
"I confess, Fernando, that I have never attempted to fathom the mystery."
"Then it is lucky, Estevan, that I have thought for both. Come, close at hand I see several stems of the mikania twisting round the cork trees: That is what we want. We will take a supply of the leaves of the guaco creeper."