74 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1904. 



loading by pushing their squealing freight into the water to 

 swim ashore as best it could. 



From here we went to Don Pablo's offices to discuss food, 

 medicines, hammocks, ammunition, clothing, etc., until it was 

 time for noon breakfast and the regulation siesta. Just a word 

 about Don Pablo. One of the wealthy and progressive mer- 

 chants ot the new republic, he not only treated us with every 

 consideration, and purchased 

 most of our supplies, but it 

 was due to his alert helpful- 

 ness that we were not tied up 

 on that torrid city for a week 

 or more, instead of getting 

 away in three days. Rut to re- 

 turn to our story. The break- 

 fast was not a success from 

 an epicurean standpoint, nor 

 was the siesta, for it was too 

 hot to sleep. So, assembling 

 in the foyer, we watched the 

 drowsy darkeys on the curbs 

 opposite, and waited for the 

 midday heat to pass. After a 

 time I was courageous enough 

 to look at the thermometer 

 and it registered 97° F., the 

 air fairly reeking with humid- 

 ity. Along in the afternoon 

 I wrote some letters, but could 

 get no stamps, as the govern- 

 ment had interdicted their 

 sale at hotels, because the 

 tourists had been in the habit 

 of buying them for curios, instead of attaching them to letters 

 as they should; at least that is what the clerk said. 



Finally, on the afternoon of the third day in Panama, all was 

 ready. The Almirante lay about a mile from shore. There is a 

 20 foot tide, so it is said, and the row to the schooner gave us a 

 view of many cattle and hog boats, and a good idea of the water 

 front of the quaint city that stands at the Pacific entrance of the 

 canal. I have said that the crew consisted of five, but neglected 



PANAMANIANS- 



to mention the crew's cook, Jungo, and also our own, Raphael. 

 I had also forgotten the dozen live hens that were tied two 

 and two, and wandered over the deck at will, as well as Do- 

 mingo, the leanest, dirtiest, tiniest tramp kitten that any coun- 

 try every saw. 



Don Pablo and Don Raimon (another friend) came out and 

 saw us off, and by 7 o'clock we were sailing out of the harbor, 



headed for Toboga island for 

 ballast and fresh water. All 

 trace of the deadly heat ashore 

 was gone, and the effects, a 

 slight fever that all experi- 

 enced, quickly disappeared. 

 When darkness came, we slept 

 on deck under the stars 

 wrapped in blankets, and 

 awoke in the morning to find 

 the boat at anchor just off the 

 little town of Toboga. It was 

 raining gently, but no one 

 cared, and after coffee we went 

 ashore to buy eggs, pineapples, 

 and bananas, and incidentally 

 to get a shore breakfast. This 

 was served in a neat room by 

 pretty Indian giils, and was 

 the best meal we had eaten for 

 a week. 



The town has about 100 

 dwellings of bamboo, plas- 

 tered with cow dung, and a 

 small church. It is nestled at 

 the foot of a high ridge, cul- 

 tivated almost to the top, while about the houses cluster cocoa- 

 nut palms, and pawpaw and chicle trees. It is a very healthy 

 place, as the water is good and there are no mosquitoes. Late 

 in the afternoon we got away, but as the wind was light, did 

 little but drift. Then it was that we began to speculate upon 

 the number of days it would take to reach our destination, and 

 to recall the fact that in these same waters Cortez once lay be- 

 calmed lor seventy days, and at this season of the year, too. 



THE SCHOONER " ALMIRANTE.' 



ON THE BEACH. GUBERNADOR ISLAND. 



