d a Philistine."

"I am afraid you are mixing up localities, Harry. I may be a Goth or a
Philistine, but perhaps you are not aware that these peoples or tribes
had no connection with each other. Your education in matters
unconnected with the Royal Navy seems to have been even more deplorably
neglected than my own."

"Shut up, youngster!"

"No, Lieutenant Prendergast, you are not on the quarter-deck of one of
Her Majesty's ships at present. You are not even the leader of a small
caravan on the march. We are in this locanda on terms of perfect
equality, save and except in any small advantage that you may possess
in the matter of years."

Harry laughed.

"Well, Bertie, I do not altogether disagree with what you say. If I had
come here to get up the history of the Incas, and investigate the ruins
of their palaces, I should be content to stay here for some weeks; but
as it is, I am really just as anxious as you are to be on the move. I
was speaking to Dias half an hour ago, and he says that in two more
days we shall be able to start again. We have been discussing how much
flour and other things it is absolutely necessary to take. Of course
the better provided we are the more comfortable we shall be; but on the
other hand, as Dias says, it is of great importance that the mules
should carry as little weight as possible.

"In crossing the passes we shall have the benefit of the old roads of
the Incas, but once we leave these the difficulties will be enormous.
Dias said that it might be better to dispose of our mules altogether
and get trained llamas in their place, as these can climb over rocks
where no mule could obtain a foothold. But then it would be necessary
to take with us one or two natives accustomed to their ways, and this
would not suit us at all. However, I do think that it would be worth
while to take two or three of these animals with us. They can carry a
hundred pounds apiece; but as we may be going over extraordinarily
rough country, fifty pounds would be sufficient. The advantage would be
that we could es