Seven years' travel in Central America, northern Mexico, and the far West of the United States

Chapter I

Departure from New York — At Sea — Chagres — The American Town and the Town of the Natives — Features of Life — San Juan del Norte — Situation and Vicissitudes in the recent History of the Town — Elements of Population .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Page 3

Chapter II

Journey into the Interior — Scenery on the River — Old Castle of San Juan — San Carlos — Aspect of the Lake of Nicaragua — Adventures of a young German amongst the Indians of the Rio Frio — Science held in high Esteem in Spanish America — Canoe Navigation on the Lake — Arrival at Granada .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 18

Chapter III

Granada and its Environs — Geological Character of the Soil — Volcanic Fissures — Habitations of the Lower Classes — Indian Population — Excursions in the Neighbourhood — The Playa — Los Corrales — La Joya -*- — Lake Songozana of Oviedo — Laguna de Salinas — Home Life of the Author — Tame Animals kept in the House — Slaveholding Ants — Nicaraguan Scholars, and Reputation of German Philosophers . . . . 29

Chapter IV

Indian Village of Jinotepet — Columnar Cactus and Yucca- trees — Dividing Ridge between the Pacific and the Atlantic — Climate of this Region — Cultivation of Sugar and Coffee — Boundary-line between different Indian Races — Indian Languages of Nicaragua — Aztec "Words in the Spanish Idiom of the Country — Geographical Names of Aztec Origin — Pretended Gold Mines — Indian Hospitality . . . . . . . . . . 48

Vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE V.

A Trip to Leon — Tipitapa — Connexion between the two Lakes interrupted — Decreasing Level of the Lake of Managua — Hot Sulphur Springs — A Saint's Day — Adam and Eve — Theatrical Entertainment — Managua and Mateares — Silver Ore and Lignite — Amber found in Nicaragua — Nagarote — The Volcanic Chain of the Maribios — Pueblo Nuevo — The Chachalagua — Leon — G eneral Mufioz — The Cathedral — Proletarians of Leon — A French Colonization Project — Gold Mines of Matagalpa — Extensive Gold Region . . . . . . . . . , ♦ . Page 62

CHAPTEE VI.

Excursions in the Neighbourhood of Leon, and Return to Granada — The Mud Volcanoes of San Jazinto and Tisate — The Volcano of Telica - — Village of Telica — A Drama represented by the Inhabitants — Musical Instrument of pretended Indian Origin — Ascent of the Mountain — The Crater — View from the Summit — Remarks concerning the Orography of Nicaragua — Nindiri — Old Stream of Lava — Masaya . . . . 76

CHAPTEE VII.

Visit to the Island of Ometepe and the Isthmus of Rivas — Indian Antipathies — Violent Attack of Fever — Muyogalpa — Cutaneous Diseases — The Two peaks — Meteorological Phenomena — Return to the Mainland — Gothic Blood — Rivas — Slope to the Pacific — Brito — A Jicaral — La Concordia — A Californian Vessel in Search of an Imaginary Town — San Juan del Sur — Nagascolo — The Transit Road — Slow Combustion of Wood — Wasps and their Sense of Hearing — Virgin Bay — Rio de las Lajas — Political Characters : Laureano Pineda and Fruto Chamorro 92

CHAPTEE VIII.

An Excursion to the Province of Chontales and to Upper Mosquitia — Estero Panaloya — The Jicarales — Masapa — Savanas on Fire — Parallel Chains

— Juigalpa — Opals in Nicaragua — Old Indian Fortifications — The Gold Region — The Aquilucho — Minerals — Acoyapa — Snakes in Nicaragua

— A Beautiful Species of Spoonbill — The Supa, or Pijivaye — The Nancite — The Edge of the Table-Land — Hydrographical Remarks — Change of Scenery — View from the Summit — Climate of the Table-Land — The Woolwa Indians and the Ancient Chontalli — Village of Lovago and its Population — Aztec Colonies — Manners of the Wool was — Hacienda de San Jose' — Nicaraguan Curassows — A White Harpy .. ..116

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER IX.

State of Political Affairs in Nicaragua — The Different Parties — Interference of Foreign Interests — ■ The Canal Project and the Accessory Transit Company — Outbreak of the Civil War of 1851 — The Author hastens to Leon — Insecurity of the Road — The Aristocracy of Science and Virtue — Arrival at Leon — The Leonese Government protests against the Contract with the Transit Company — General Munoz, his Character, his Party Position, and his Death — Character, Political Career, and Death of Fruto Chamorro — The Author returns to Granada, and thence to the United States Page 141

CHAPTER X.

A Visit to Honduras — Belize — An Excursion on the River — Sites and Scenery — Information in Reference to the Remnants of the Belgian Colony of St. Thomas — The Boom — Ruins in British Honduras — Manati Lagoon — Negro Settlement — Types of the Black Race under favourable Circumstances — Manati Cave — Subterranean Rivers — Geological Remarks .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 160

CHAPTER XI.

Visit to Honduras, continued — Omoa — Pleasant Navigation of the Gulf of Honduras — Carib Villages of the British Territory — The Zapodilla Keys — Cerro de Guyamel — Omoa — The Malinche, or the Guacamayo — Wild Scenery in the Neighbourhood — Climatic Influences of Northerly Winds — Oak Trees by the side of Cocoa Palms — Northern Birds of Passage — Excursion to the Northern Terminus of the Honduras Inter-Oceanic Railway — Carib Village of Tulian — Severity of Caribean Criminal Justice — Port Cortez and Alvarado Lagoon — Prospects of this Locality — The Honduras Inter-Oceanic Railway .. .. .. .. 177

CHAPTER XII.

General Remarks on Central America — Geographical Position and Political Importance — Natural Advantages and Future Prospects — How the Interests of England and those of the United States, in reference to the Central American Question, could be harmonized — European Immigration — Prejudices against the Climate refuted — Native Labourers fully available, and how to be treated .. .. .. .. ... 192 viu CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Objects of the Journey — Trade with Chihuahua — From New York to the Frontier of Missouri — Railway Journey and Scenery between New York and Lake Erie — Cincinnati — On the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Missouri — Western Philosophers — Dangers by Steamers — Weyne City — Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 203

Chapter II

Stay at Independence — Frontier Places of Missouri — Caravans of Traders and Emigrants — Means of Conveyance — Northern and Southern Methodists — Negro Belief — Censorship and Indulgence — A Religious Curiosity — Historical and Political Views — - A Political Murder — Preparations for Departure — Beyond the Limits of Civilization .. .. 216

Chapter III

The Caravan, its Arrangements — Waggons, Freight and Requirements for the Journey — The Commander and his Men — Anglo-Americans and Mexicans — Man and Animal — ■ Characteristic of the Mule — Aristocrats, Mes- alliances, Parvenus, and Rabble in the Animal Kingdom — The First Breaking-in and Harnessing Wild Mules — The Corral — Order of Journey and Prairie Roads — The Camp and its Comforts — Night Watches, and Usages of Caravan Life — Astronomical and Musical Amusements — Dangerous Charms of the Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . 225

Chapter IV

Departure from Independence — Outskirts of the Prairie — Commencement of the Caravan Journey — Indian Signal Station — Wolves and Indians — Uncomfortable Night-Quarters — Journey by Moonlight — Solitude of the Prairie — Breeds of Dogs, and Races of Men — Geological Remarks — The Prairie — Council Grove — Ycrba-loco — Small Prairie Rivers — Landscape Scenery — Buffalo Herds, and Hunting — Marmots and their Villages — Their Companionship with Owls and Rattlesnakes — Californian Ground-Squirrel — Meteorological Observations . . . . . . 242

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTEB V.

Continuation — The Arkansas — Wolves — A Stampede — Comanches and Kiowas — Visit of Chiefs — Indian Mourning, and Military Decorations — Fort Atkinson — Further Intercourse with the Kiowas — Pillaging Expeditions to Mexico, and Mexican Prisoners — Use of the Spanish Language among the Prairie-Indians — Gradual Destruction of the Character of the Pace — Indian Tribes converted into Bands of Robbers — Eastern Limit of the Apaches — Indian Rock-tomb — Indian Ideas of a Future Life — Slave Trade among the Indians — Crossing the River — Indian Visits to the Camp — A Step from the Sublime to the Ridiculous .. Page 261

Chapter VI

Continuation — -Country between the Arkansas and the Cimarron — Plants and Zones of Vegetation in Miniature — Water for Drinking and Washing

— Wild-ducks — A Fugitive Murderer visits our Camp — Deserters from the Western Forts — Nature of the Soil — The Tarantula ■ — 'Effects of Refraction — Valley of the Cimarron — The River — Electric Phenomena

— Thunderstorm — Herds of Antelopes — The Bed of the Cimarron suddenly filled with Water — Passage of the River — Aspect of the Country

— Juniper-bushes — Distant Mountains — Curiosity of the Antelopes — The Rabbit's Ears — Fissure in the Lava — The Round Mound — Spurs of the Raton Mountains — Cienagas and Water-fowl — The Canadian — The Canon of the Ocate — Waggon Mounds — Salt Lake — Forests — La Mora

— Settlements, and Agriculture — A Projected Town — A Day of Rest for Cattle and Men — Watershed between the Mississippi and the Rio Grande 277

Chapter VII

Continuation — Journey along the Edge of the Plateau on the Eastern Side of the Rio Grande ■ — The Upper Pecos Valleys — Character of the Country — Breeding of Sheep — Caravan Law — Mexicans in Service of Anglo- American Masters — Anton Chico — Canon Blanco — Cold Nights — Singular Hospitality and Corresponding Reward — Plateau of Manzanas — Landscape Scenery — Ruins and Mountain-Pass of Cuarra — Larks, Magpies, and Daisies in New Mexico — Descent into the Valley — Steep Alluvial Terraces — Vegetation — Volcanic Hills in the Valley — View from the Summit — Tree Vegetation near the River — Water-fowl — La Joyita 293

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER tin.

Valley of the Eio Grande — Irrigation Canals — Encampment near La Joyita — Visit of the Apaches — Indian Hieroglyphics — Augitic Lava over the alluvial Masses of the Valley — The River "breaks through a Bar of Lava — Water-fowl, and ill Success in Hunting — Hills of Drift Sand — Excesses of our Waggoners — A View of Socorro — Valley of Valverde — Basalt — Bushes of the Mezquite — Rattlesnakes — Tarantulas — Quails — The Paisano — San Cristoval — Desert of the Dead — Geological Remarks, and Landscape Scenery — A Vegetable Monster — Donana — Sierra de los O'rganos — Fruit — Fletcher's Rancho — A Memento Mori — Deserters from Fort Fillmore — Grounds of Discontent — Narrows of the Rio Grande near El Paso — Franklin and Macgoffinville .. Page 307

Chapter IX

El Paso and its Environs — Character of Landscape — Productions — Trees and Silver Ore in the Mountains — Strata of Hills near Franklin — Insecurity of the Country — Pueblo Indians — Col. Langberg's Survey of the Mexican Eastern Frontier — Negotiation with the Custom-House Authorities, and their Treachery — Continuation of Journey — Two Roads — Armed Travellers and Mexican Cavalry — Unsuccessful Military Colonies

— Guadalupe — Expedition of the Inhabitants — Topography of the Road : El Cantarecio — Pass over the Sierra de la Ventana — Charcos del Grado

— Whirlwind and Pillars of Dust — Cerro de Lucero and Ojo de Lucero

— Spring at the top of a Sand Hillock — Efflorescences of Soda — Laguna de los Patos, and Character of the Plain — Ojo de la Laguna — Carrizal — Former Wealth of the Locality — Ojo Caliente — Fish in Hot Water — Chihuate — Bones of Men and Animals — Great Cattle Hacienda

— Herd of Antelopes — Laguna de Encinillas — Arrival at Chihuahua

Chapter X

Sojourn at Chihuahua — Situation, Name, ancient Splendour, and present Decay of the Town — -Silver Scoria as a Building Material — Aqueduct — Climate and Physiological Influences — Insecurity of the Country — History of the later Indian Fights in North Mexico — Examples of Mexican Bravery — Government Measures — Excursions — Cerro Grande — Rough-riding and Mexican Horses — Hunting Party — Santa Eulalia and its Silver Mines 342

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTEE XI.

"Western Region of the State of Chihuahua — Jesus Dominguez — " Novedades " — Canada del Fresno — Different Character of Vegetation — Plastic Beauty of Mexican Scenery — Santa Ysabel — Mexican Country People — Hospitality aud Simplicity of Manners — Romance in North Mexican Life — The Table-Land — The Bufa de Cosihuiriachic and the Sierra Madre — Orological Remarks — Pass and Valley of Coyachic — Lakes on the Table- Land — The Laguna de Castilla and its Environs — Valley of the Rio de Papigochic and Watershed to the Pacific Ocean — Villa de la Concepcion and other Places in the Valley — Statistics of the Mines of Jesus Maria — The Tarumare Indians and their Customs — Cretaceous Formation in the Sierra Madre — Diminution and Restoration of the Mexican Population — Episodes of Mexican Life — A Robber Chief — A Mexican Free-thinker — Unnecessary Excitement — Return to Chihuahua . . Page 361

Chapter XII

March of General Trias' Brigade from Chihuahua to El Paso, and the Author's Return by the Sandhills — Cause of this Military Movement ■ — The Mesilla Valley — Accompanying Circumstances of Mexican Politics — Proclamation of the Garrison of Chihuahua — Don Angel Trias — Departure of the Brigade — In what Capacity accompanied by the Author — March, and Camp Scenes — Important Intelligence — Burning Prairies and Insolence of the Indians — El Sause — Sheep herded with Artillery ■ — Hacienda de Encinillas — Ojo de la Laguna — Plan de Alamos — El Carmen — Punta de Agua, Disappearing River — Alamos de Pena and Reappearing River — Carrizal — Forced March of Eighty-four English Miles in Twenty-four Hours — El Paso — Electric Bed — Return — Ojo de Samalayuca — Drive over the Sandhills and Natural Flower-garden of gigantic proportions .. .. .. .. .. .. 390

Chapter XIII

Return to the United States — From Chihuahua to the Presidio del Norte — Magnificent Desert Scenery — The Presidio and its Environs — The Nortenos — Leaton's Fort — An Episode of the Middle Ages — Orological Features of the Country from the Presidio to San Antonio de Bexar — Details of the Journey — Watering-places — A Cuguar Lair — El Saucillo

— Porphyry Terrace of San Este'van — Ojo del Berendo — Puerto del Paisano, and Ojo del Paisano — Ojo del Leon — Breakfast with a Cuguar

— Agua Delgada, and Road from El Paso — Ojo de Ahuancha — Ojo Escondido — Vegetation at the end of May — The Rio Pecos — Post from El Paso and bearded Nursemaids — Life Oak Creek — Howard Springs — Strayed Buffalo — Trees and Shrubs between Pecos and Devil's River — Valley of this last — Wild Scenery — Indian Brutality — Gloomy Wilderxii CONTENTS.

ness — The Devil's River again — Old Hut and terrible Recollections — Character of the Country farther to the East — Abundant Game — Military Station — First Settlement on the Road — Return to Civilization — Stay at San Antonio — German Settlement on the Upper Guadalupe — Sudden Rise of Texan Rivers — Dangerous Adventure — Indianola — Return to New York . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 404

Chapter I

From New York to San Antonio — New Orleans — Galveston and Port Lavaca after the Epidemic — Journey to San Antonio — News from the Camp — Sickness among the Mules — Rattlesnake Bites, and a Poisonous Caterpillar

— A Fight, and American Opinion on it — Neighbourhood of San Antonio

— Climate in the Winter — The River and its Sources — Subterranean Watercourses in Western Texas — Changes in the Physical Geography of the Country — Adventures of a young German — Prince Bonaparte — Reminiscences of Texan Desperadoes . . . . . . . . 431

Chapter II

The Author returns to the Coast — Money-Transport on the Matagorda Bay — "A Norther," and an Opportunity of getting warm in it — Starting of the Caravan from Port Lavaca — Fragment of the Author's Diary, Characterizing a Texan Journey by Freight- Waggons — Arrival of the Caravan at San Antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442

Chapter III

Journey from San Antonio to El Paso — Appearance of Trap in the Limestone

— A Suspicious-looking Hermit — A Tanko Indian — A warm ' Norther '

— Fossil Fish — Geese and Pelicans — Turkeys, Eagles, and Beavers — Meeting with Friends on the Pecos — Human Skeletons — Road to El Paso

— Fire in the Prairie — Warm Wind, Dust, and Electric Sparks — Electrical Phenomena — Snow Storm — Valleys and Defiles of the Limpias — Limpia Porphyry — Harmony in the Physiognomy of Nature — Meeting with Apaches — Alamos de San Juan — A Human Corpse — Scenery on the Summit of the Plateau — Hardships of Travelling — The Dead Man's Hole — Metalliferous Veins — Eagle Mountains and Eagle Spring — Yuccawood — The Rio Grande — A Rocky Defile — Gypsum Formation in the Alluvial Masses — Arrival at the Settlements — San Eleazario — Socorro, Ysleta, and El Paso 451

CONTENTS. xm

Chapter IV

New Custom-house Regulations on the Mexican Frontier — Continuation of the Journey to California — Mexican Passport System — Commencement of Spring Vegetation in the Sand — Crossing the Eio Grande — Valley of Mesilla — Geological Features — A Murderer joins our Party — Smallpox effects a Life Insurance — Pdo de los Mimbres — Ojo de Inez — Long March without Water — Dry Lagoon — Natural "Wells — A beautiful Spring and Indian Beastliness — Guadalupe Pass — San Bernardino — Origin of the Rio Yaqui — Monument with Indian Hieroglyphics — Springs of the Rio de San Pedro — Apaches — Charming Valleys — Strata of Conglomerate — Tmpassable Mountain Pass — Santa Cruz Page 470

Chapter V

River and Valley of Santa Cruz — Landscape Scenery — Hacienda de la Calabasa and its German Inhabitants — Fights -with the Apaches — The old Mission of Tumacacori — Travelling Companions — Saguarro, or the Giant Cactus — San Xavier del Bac — Old Acquaintances — Christian Pimas — European Adventurers in the Service of a Sonora private Gentleman — Tubac — Tucson — A Desert of Dust and Clay — Isolated Pyramid of Rock

— Scenes in the Desert — Gila Lagoon — Heathen Pimas — The Mezquite Bean — Idyllic Scenes, and Character of the Pimas.. .. .. 493

Chapter VI

Journey down the Gila — Casas Blancas — Campo Grande — Hydro-geological Remarks — The Cocomaricopas — Ethnological Remarks from the Narrative of their Chief — Hair and singular Head-dresses — Robbers and Murderers in our Camp — Insecurity of the Gila and Colorado Region — Revolutionary Movement in Sonora — Valley Pass and Rocky Desert — Heat of the Gila Valley — The Chief of the Pimas, and indescribable Music — ■ Hickey's Hollow — Annual Grasses — Lava Terraces of the Gila Valley

— Indian Hieroglyphics — Opinion as to their Meaning — Footpath worn in the Rocks of a Mountain Summit — Conjectures as to the Age of the Hieroglyphics — A Party of Cocopas in our Camp — View from Summit of Mountain — Arrival at the Colorado — Camp Yuma — The Yuma Indians

— Colorado City — Passage of Steamer — Crossing the Colorado . . 509

Chapter VII

From the Colorado to Los Angeles — The Desert — Old Sea-shore — Discharge of Water from the Colorado into the Desert — Different Qualities of the Soil — Toads and Frogs in the Desert — The Little Lagoon — Dead Fish — Mountain Chains — Rain Water — The Stony Desert and the Gypsum Desert — Bones of destroved Herds of Cattle — Mineralosdcal Ants — xiv CONTENTS.

General Character of the Country from hence to Los Angeles — Extent of the North American Steppes — Region of Annual Grasses and Plants — Wild Cerealia — The Original Cause of the Absence of Trees is of a Geological Nature — Yallecito — A half-starved Man — San Felipe — Rocky Pass — Camphor Scent of the Plants — Warner's Rancho — Hot Sulphur Springs — Californian Indians — Large Herds' of Cattle — Grass and Clover Seed as natural Fodder for Cattle — Santa Ana — One Meteorological Region encroaching upon another — Colonel Williams's Rancho — An Expensive Shepherd — We share the Flesh of Thirty Pigs with the Vultures — Extensive use of Strychnine — Tertiary Group of Hills — Asphalt Springs — Los Angeles — Return to Civilization . . Page 530

Chapter VIII

Physical Geography of the North American Continent — Retrospect of its Orologic Relations — Southern Termination of the Rocky Mountains on the Upper Rio Grande — Their Southern Equivalents — Sierra Madre — Frequency of the Name — The Great Sierra Madre of Cinaloa and Sonora

— Its Northern Equivalent in the Californian Mountain- system — Interior Longitudinal Basin of the Western Half of the Continent — Depression of the Plateau between the Middle Rio Grande and the Middle Gila . . 550

Chapter IX

Los Angeles and the South of California — Situation of the Town and Climate

— Orchards and Vineyards — Exportation of Fruit and Grapes — Production of Wine — Other Resources of the Country — No Gold Mines in this Part of the State — Indians and Mexicans — Criminals and Desperadoes from the North withdrawing hither — Murders — Departure for San Francisco — Mist on the Coast — Monterey — Aspect of the Country — A Whale — Fisheries of Monterey — The Golden Gate and Bay of San Francisco — Situation of the Town .. .. .. .. .. 561

Chapter X

San Francisco — Elements and Character of Society — The Romance of UtilL tarianism — A List of Crime and Bloodshed — Points of Comparison — Californian Life distinguished by extraordinary Acuteness of Intellect and Energy of Action — Strange Remedies for strange Evils — Satisfactory Result of a Social Experiment — Natural Character of the Environs of San Francisco — The Climate and its Moral Influence — Excursions in the Vicinity — The Redwoods — Scenery of the Coast Range — San Jose — Artesian Wells — Quicksilver Mines of New Almaden .. .. 571

Chapter XI

Eastward Bound — Filibusters on Board — William Walker — Return to New York 586

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

View taken from the edge of the Table-land of Upper

Mosquitia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Book I. Chap. 8.

Sierra de los Organos „ II.

i View in the Mining District of Santa Eulalia, with the

Euins of the old Mining Town of Magellanes . . .. „ II. ,, 10.

^ Valley of the Rio Grande, near Mesilla .. .. .. „ IE. „ 12.

v Watering-place, called the Dead Man's Hole .. .. „ III. „ 3.

* Deserted Mission of San Xavier del Bac . . . . . . „ III. „ 5.

/ Saguarro Trees „ III. „ 6.

Book I. RAMBLES AND OBSERVATIONS

NICARAGUA, UPPER MOSQUITIA,

AND ON THE SHORES OF

THE GULF OF HONDURAS.

TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AMERICA,

OHAPTEE I.

Departure from New York — At Sea — Chagres — The American Town and the Town of the Natives — Features of Life — San Juan del Norte — Situation and Vicissitudes in the recent History of the Town — Elements of Population.

In 1 850, the project of constructing a ship canal across the Nicaraguan isthmus was generally believed to be near its speedy realization. A corps of engineers had been sent to that country for the execution of the necessary surveys, and a favourable report was expected. Nicaragua appeared to me in the attractive light of a region about to become the theatre of an important movement in civilization, and my interest in the country was excited in a sufficient degree to induce me to visit it.

Accordingly, I took passage in a brig lying in the port of New York, and destined to Chagres and San Juan del Norte. We sailed on the 28th of September. Calms, squalls and thunder-storms made the voyage tedious, though for these annoyances I found a kind of compensation in the various scenes and aspects which nature presented during the time. It is difficult to give an idea of the magic beauty of some of the sunsets I witnessed in the Caribbean Sea on this occasion. One evening the whole

b 2 i

4 AT SEA — SUNSETS. Book I.

western sky was of the deepest vermilion. Golden threads, as if of a metallic web, were spun over its surface. Northward and southward the burning red, with a transition through all gradations of carmine, purple, violet, and indigo, ultimately passed into brown. Here and there, like the unveiled portion of an upper sky, some ethereal region beamed through between the more earthly colours of the lower atmosphere, and appeared in a bluish green of the softest hue. Broad rays of light, of alternating gold and azure, diverging from the sun's place behind the horizon and extending towards the zenith, passed over the whole picture like the transparent radii of a gigantic fan. Fleecy clouds, resembling rose-tinged veils, hung over us, while sails and masts were steeped in the mellow tints of a delicate lilac, which, in different shades, dyed the northern half of the firmament. The next morning exhibited a picture of similar beauty and interest. An arch of flaky clouds of a dark olive colour, with glowing edges of gold, was stretched over a wide clear expanse of the western sky. In the centre of this bright semicircle thick masses of a dark violet, resting on the sharp outline of the ocean, were piled up in strange forms. From west to east, on either side, the horizon passed through every shade of violet and blue, the gradual transition here and there interrupted by dusky piles of a brownish green. A veil of pale lilac was thrown from the zenith towards the east, the form of the moon glimmering through the delicate tissue.

On the 5th of November, towards the evening, the mountains of the Isthmus of Panama came in sight: — isolated cones of a truncated form. On the next morning a hilly coast extended before us, showing a long line of country covered with forest, and a chain of mountains in

Chap. I. CHAGRES — AMERICAN TOWN. 5

the rear. By-and-bye the castle of San Lorenzo, rising above the mouth of the Rio de los Lagardos, became visible ; a few hours later we anchored on the roadstead at its base, and on the following morning we succeeded in safely entering the river, where we moored our brig close to the bank, just in front of the frame buildings which constituted the so-called "American" part of Chagres. The reader, I suppose, is aware that throughout America the term " American' is almost exclusively applied to the people of the United States, — a practice by which the "manifest destiny" of that compound of the most active elements of the present generation of mankind is thoughtlessly recognized even by those who are most immediately threatened by it, — for in all Spanish -American countries " los Americanos" means the people of the great northern republic.

This "American town" of Chagres, then, which most likely has ceased to exist since the opening of the Panama railroad, when Aspinwall has taken its place as the Atlantic terminus of the isthmus route, was situated on the left bank of the river, while on the opposite side, in a nook formed by the hill of San Lorenzo, stood the "village of the natives" which, as it existed before the time of Californian travel, may be supposed to have outlived its go-ahead rival, and to be still the home of a few families.

In choosing the place of the American settlement, the exclusive considerations of a reckless love of gain must have decided. In a locality known to be sickly in the highest degree, it was built on the water's edge, on a low and muddy ground. But it stood on the deep-water side of the river, and brigs and schooners could unload a few hundred steps from the houses. These had all been sent ready-made from New York. The most prominent among

6 CHAGKES — HOTEL. Book I.

them was the Irving House — the principal " hotel" of the place. At New York I had seen- it advertised and recommended as a superior establishment, " in whose spacious halls the traveller was sure to find the comforts and commodities of civilization as it exists in the temperate zone, combined with all the luxuries of the tropics." It was a large barn-like framehouse of two stories, each of them forming one single undivided room. In the lower story a hundred or more travellers, sitting on four long benches of rough boards on both sides of two long tables of the same material, were treated with salt pork and dried beans, while in the upper room several hundred persons, sick with fever, were either shaking from frost or burning in the paroxysm of heat, and those who were able to keep up were sitting on their boxes and trunks in order to secure them from being removed by the numerous thieves and robbers who at that time infested this dangerous highway of travelling adventurers. Between the mud-holes and fetid waterpools of the street in front of the houses stood gamblingtables surrounded by dirty ruffians, and here and there the door of a liquor-shop was left open, and groups of bearded and long-haired, unwashed and uncombed, palefaced and hollow-eyed men were seen, some of them cautiously holding their hands over their pockets, heavily loaded with the proceeds of a mining season in California, and too heavily altogether for the unsolid condition of their ragged apparel.