20 THE VOYAGE. 



After crossing the river, the country becomes 

 open, and large patches of rich land are seen 

 under a rude kind of cultivation, until the 

 native town of Gorgona is reached, where, in 

 old days, boats were exchanged for horses and 

 mules, on the overland route. 



Leaving the course of the river, the line 

 passes through deep clay banks and rocky cut- 

 tings, suddenly emerging on the green meadow- 

 lands surrounding Matuchin. I never gazed on 

 a more exquisite panorama. Dotting the fore- 

 ground was a pretty native village ; to the left 

 the Chagres, and its tributary the Rio Obispo; 

 on the right a group of conical hills, so clothed 

 with vegetation that it was impossible to imagine 

 what the land would look like if the trees were 

 cut away. During our stay at this station we 

 were regularly beset ; numerous vendors of native 

 merchandise crowded into and round about the 

 open van ; grey-haired old men, and women, 

 pushed trays under our very noses, covered with 

 filthy pastry, gingerbread, sweetstuff, and other 

 like abominations ; whilst little black urchins sat 

 like imps on the rails of the truck, each with 

 some live captive for sale monkey, squirrel, 

 parrot, or other bright-plumaged bird. 



Following the valley of the Obispo, which 



