62 Natukat> History Bulletin. 



not allowed to enjoy this enchanting view for long, however^ 

 for no sooner were we on deck than the vessel was besieged 

 by the '• bungo " men. The bungo is a little boat with an awn- 

 ing over the after part, like that which marked the prairie 

 schooner of early days at home. There seem to be hundreds 

 of these little harbor craft, each with its vociferous boatman, 

 who evidently has the insistent methods of the cabman the 

 world over. He is allowed by law to charge twenty-hve 

 cents in American money for conveying a passenger any- 

 where within the harbor. If he is dealing with a stranger, 

 however, the chances are that he will charge as much as he 

 thinks his patron can be bullied into paying. Having our 

 own boats and men, it was not necessary to patronize the 

 bungo man very extensively, much to his evident disgust. 



The law required that our vessel be consigned to some resi- 

 dent lirm or business man. and the representative of the firm 

 of Gonzales & Co. came off in a prett\- steam launch to take 

 the captain and manager ashore. We had letters from the 

 United States Secretary of State to the Hon. Ramon Williams,- 

 Consul General to Cuba, instructing him to aid our cause and 

 assist us in securing permission from the Cuban Government 

 to carry on our work without official molestation. Mr. Wil- 

 liams proved affable, and promised to use his influence in our 

 behalf, which he promptly did. securing permission for us to 

 carry on our dredging operations on the coast off Morro Castle, 

 and also at Bahia Honda, a place some fifty miles to the west 

 of Havana. Wishing to be released from the legal require- 

 ment of taking a pilot whenever we desired to go in or out 

 of Havana Harbor, the captain and myself went to the Cap- 

 tain of the Port, who was acting Admiral at the time. As is 

 almost universally the case with Spanish ofiicials. this gentle- 

 man was courtesy itself, and immediately promised to do what 

 he could for us, and sent us to confer with the '-Captain of the 

 Pilots," who had jurisdiction in such matters. 15oth Captain 

 Flowers and m\'self were deep!}- imjiressed with the courtesy 

 which seemed to be habitual and natural to tiiese otlicials. a 

 courtesy so strangely in contrast with that which we had both 



