He seemed to be
efficient. At the promised time he had the
canoes and paddlers on hand and the goods safely
stowed away while one big craft was fitted up
as comfortably as possible for the men of the
party.
As Ned remarked, it did look like a camping
party, for in the canoes were tents, cooking
utensils and, most important, mosquito canopies
of heavy netting.
The insect pests of Honduras, as in all tropical
countries, are annoying and dangerous. Therefore
it was imperative to sleep under mosquito
netting.
On the advice of Val Jacinto, who was to
accompany them, the travelers were to go up the
river about fifty miles. This was as far as it
would be convenient to use the canoes, the guide
told Tom and his friends, and from there on
the trip to the Copan valley would be made on
the backs of mules, which would carry most of
the baggage and equipment. The heavier portions
would be transported in ox-carts.
As Professor Bumper expected to do considerable
excavating in order to locate the buried
city, or cities, as the case might be, he had to
contract for a number of Indian diggers and
laborers. These could be hired in Copan, it was
said.
The plan, therefore, was to travel by canoes
during the less heated parts of the day, and tie
up at night, making camp on shore in the net-
protected tents. As for the Indians, they did
not seem to mind the bites of the insects. They
sometimes made a smudge fire, Val Jacinto had
said, but that was all.
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