has, I am afraid, incurred for ever the displeasure of the Governor, at all events so far as induces me to despair of being able to calculate upon his friendly cooperation in any of our future proceedings. I hope when they are once quietly settled at Santa Ana and the works regularly advancing, that some improvement may take place. To accomplish this, I propose residing at Santa Ana with them for awhile.

There was reason for uneasiness. Robert Stephenson spoke firmly to the men, but he saw that his language, though moderate and judicious, merely roused their resentment. Scarcely a day passed without some petty exhibition of disrespect and hostility; and though in Santa Ana they had fewer opportunities for gross licentiousness, they could not be weaned at once from habitual drunkenness and indolence. The supervisors or captains,' as they were called, according to the custom of the Cornish miners, were the most mutinous. Mere workmen, and altogether ignorant of the science of their vocation, they were incredulous that any man could understand mining operations who had not risen from the lowest employments connected with them. In the Northumbrian coal field, a distich popular a generation since runs —

Trapper, trammer, hewer,

Under, overman, and then viewer.

The Cornish captains' in like manner were strongly in favour of promotion from the ranks, and were reluctant to obey the orders of a mere lad, and, what was worse still, a north-country lad. Their insolence was fostered by the ludicrous respect paid to the captains' by the natives, both Spaniards and Indians, who, misled by the title, regarded them as superior to the young engineer-in-chief. The 'captains' themselves immediately saw their advantage

—and in their drunkenness told both the workmen and the native population that Robert Stephenson was merely a clerk, sent out to pay them their wages and see that the expedition did not fail from want of funds.

Quitting Mariquita, where the rumbling of earthquakes had not allowed him many nights of unbroken rest, Robert Stephenson took up his residence on the mountains, the curate of Santa Ana putting a cottage at his disposal. A few weeks passed on, and there were alarming symptoms of a general mutiny of the workmen against his authority. A new arrangement of the men at the dif ferent mines was the occasion of open revolt. One night early in December, the most dangerous and reckless of the Cornish party assembled in an apartment of the curate's cottage. Wearied with a long day's work, Robert Stephenson had retired to rest in the next room, and was roused from his first slumber by the uproar of the rascals, who, mad with liquor, yelled out their determination not to obey a beardless boy. For more than an hour he lay on his bed listening to the riot -fearful that the disturbance might lead to bloodshed, and prudently anxious to avoid personal collision with the drunken rabble. Of course he knew that their insolent speeches were intended for his ears, yet he remained quiet. He was alone - his opponents were many. If the difficulty became an affair of blows, the weight of evidence would be all against him; and even if he were killed, he would be believed to have provoked the conflict by his own rashness. But when the insurgents proposed that the clerk' should forthwith be taught his proper place, he rightly judged that it would not do for him to remain longer in his private room

when his presence might still the storm, and could not aggravate it. Rising, therefore, from his bed, he walked into the midst of the rioters unarmed, and with no more clothing on him than his trousers and shirt.

At his first appearance there was a low murmur, followed by a deep silence. Taking up his place in the middle of the room, he drew himself up and calmly surveyed them. Silence having had its effect, he said quietly, 'It won't do for us to fight to-night. It wouldn't be fair; for you are drunk, and I am sober. We had better wait till to-morrow. So the best thing you can do is to break up this meeting, and go away quietly.'

Cowed by his coolness, the men made no reply. For a minute they were silent, and turned their eyes on the ground; and then, rising from their seats, they stumbled out of the room into the open air, to surround the cottage and pass two or three hours in shouting," One and all!-one and all!' thereby declaring that they were one and all determined on revolt. Thus far master of the position, Robert Stephenson lit a cigar, and, sitting down in the room, allowed the tipsy scoundrels to see him through the open door calmly smoking.

The riot being renewed on a subsequent night, he left his cottage, and, accompanied by two friends, found refuge in the house of a native.

It appears remarkable (wrote Robert Stephenson to Mr. Illingworth, December 8, 1825) that having been all my life accustomed to deal with miners, and having had a body of them under my control, and I may say in my employ, that I should now find it difficult to contribute to their comfort and welfare. They plainly tell me that I am obnoxious to them, because I was not born in Cornwall; and although they are perfectly aware that I have visited some of the principal mines in that

county, and examined the various processes on the spot, yet they tell me that it is impossible for a north-countryman to know anything about mining.

Fortunately, Robert Stephenson had a cordial ally in Mr. Illingworth at Bogota, who lost no time in sending word that Robert Stephenson was the head of the expedition, and that the men from high to low were to obey him, and him alone. And in due course these representations were rendered yet more emphatic by letters from the Board of Directors in London.

When a better feeling had been established between the miners and himself, Robert Stephenson encouraged them to spend their evenings in athletic sports. In casting quoits, lifting anvils, reaching beams suspended by cords, and throwing the hammer, he had few equals ; and by displaying his prowess in these and similar sports, he gradually gained the respect and affection of his men; but he was unable to work a complete reformation in their habits. To the last he could never get from any man more than half a day's work each day, and he always had nearly a third of his hundred and sixty subordinates disabled by drink.

Having moved from Mariquita to Santa Ana, he had a cottage built for his own habitation. It contained two rooms, the outer and inner walls being composed of flattened bamboo, and the ceilings of smooth reeds, palm-leaves being used for the roof. The entire framework was tied together with cords of the tough and pliant bijuco. In this cottage, commanding a view of the ravine, he was so fortunate as to have congenial society. Visitors came from Bogota and Mariquita, and for weeks together he had with him M. Boussingault and

Dr. Roullin. The former was an accomplished chemist and geologist; and the latter had been invited by the Government to become Professor of Mathematics in an University which it was proposed to establish in the new republic. Under their guidance Robert Stephenson studied with system and accuracy the higher branches of mathematics, and various departments of natural science. Occasionally he made excursions to Bogota and Mariquita, to attend the horse-races or the balls; but such trips were only occasional relaxations, after weeks of work and study at Santa Ana. At this time, also, he took especial pains to rub off the remains of that provincial roughness which had marked him in boyhood. With characteristic simplicity he begged the few English gentlemen of his acquaintance to correct him whenever he used the diction, idioms, or intonations of north-country dialect. Knowing the disposition with which they had to deal, his friends took him at his word; and though at first their criticisms were frequent and far from pleasant, they never produced in him even momentary irritation. In one of his letters to his mother at this period he speaks of himself as dividing his time 'between eating and study.' In study he was perhaps intemperate, but in his diet he was habitually sparing and moderate. Occasionally he took wine and spirits, but his usual drink was water. He smoked regularly, but not immoderately.

To have a complete picture of Robert Stephenson's South American life, the reader must remember his strong love of animals, and imagine the bamboo cottage of the Andes peopled with four or five monkeys, as many parrots, and a magnificent mule named 'Hurry,' who, as soon as his master's dinner-hour arrived, used