At 2 o’clock in the morning the soldiers had something to eat, and at 4.30 we resumed the journey toward the mountains of the north. After a continuous march, with a great deal of descending and ascending among mountains, we reached Nagani settlementat 2 in the afternoon. We never rested here a moment, out kept up the march toward another ranch, Ayangan, meantime passing through mountainous regions higher and higher every minute.
It seems that our strength is becoming exhausted, due, perhaps, to hunger, thirst, and fatigue. It is already 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and the guides tell us that Ayangan is still very far off. We keep on marching. The day is fading away; copious perspiration covers us from head to foot; we have not yet eaten anything; night falls upon us, and we find ourselves in the midst of several very high mountains, unable to see a thing on account of the intense darkness. Suddenly, the soldiers that are in advance announce to the honorable president that it is impossible to continue marching, as the trail they are on is too narrow, and they are in danger of falling into the precipices. It is 8 o’clock at night.
In view of the situation the honorable president ordered a rest here. All the soldiers at once sought water for drinking purposes, and in order to cook their rice—each one carried a little rice—but unfortunately none was found; thus, it happened that in spite of our having eaten nothing all day, and of not being able to eat on this night, we had to make the best of our fortune, or misfortune. We tightened our belts, and, half dead, we went to bed on the ground, among rocks and trees, which for the time were our bedding. Toward 2 o’clock in the morning, the honorable president, being under the necessity of urinating, awoke and got up. What a surprise he had on seeing an Igorrote, armed with a spear, standing at our feet, and ready to “do us us up” (sic). On seeing that one of us, the honorable president, was awake, the Igorrote ran away and let himself fall into the mountain precipices. We had saved ourselves from one misfortune.
It had commenced to rain gently at about 11 o’clock that night; hence we were all wet throughout the entire night, and the cold, too, was killing us.
During the night the Igorrotes succeeded in stealing one of our guns.