408 NEW YORK TO PANAMA. 



One or two are of adobes, and a few have received coatings of plaster over the canes; but most 

 of them are only of bamboos, with thatched roofs. One of the most conspicuous is the church, 

 occupying the summit of the hill. Every house appears to be full of people, of whom quite 

 one half are of unadulterated African blood ; three fourths of the remainder various combina- 

 tions of Spanish, Indian, and African ; and one eighth descendants of the early Spaniards, 

 without recent admixture, and Europeans. Women are more numerous than men. They 

 appear an idle, slip-shod race, lounging about the doors on stools that elevate their knees nearly 

 to the level of their chins, and spread them at an angle of more than 90. Such as they are, 

 Cruces numbers two or three hotels, and sundry livery-stables, where animals may be hired. 

 As our basket contained an abundant supply, we had no need of the services of mine host. 

 Packing something to eat on the road to Panama, the remainder was given to our boatmen, who 

 took their leave with multitudes of compliments and good wishes for our speedy and pleasant 

 ride. 



On leaving Chagres a resident acquaintance had given my fellow-traveller a letter to a Mon- 

 sieur P., whom we supposed to be an especial friend; its object being to facilitate our departure 

 and travel over the road. This, it was stated, could not be done so well by any one as by 

 Monsieur P. We found him without trouble. To estimate him according to his own claims, he 

 is one of the great self-martyrs of the world. He has sacrificed the comforts and elegancies of 

 the " belle ville" for the sake of being permitted to forward Americans and their luggage 

 between Cruces and Panama for a consideration. But he makes no mention of the last until 

 you descend to particulars ; and prefers leaving one to infer that philanthropic zeal for the 

 Yankee race induced him to this great sacrifice. Monsieur P. is a French Jew; and when we 

 came to treat for mules, he was more eloquent about "hard times" than he had been on the sub- 

 ject of self-sacrifice. Nevertheless he furnished good saddle-mules for $14 each, and agreed to 

 forward our trunks at $12 per mule-load; and his beasts were certainly ready some time before 

 we were. 



As the trunks would not reach Panama until the following afternoon, a change of clothing 

 and a few necessary articles were packed in an India-rubber bag and strapped to the shoulders 

 of the guide who was to accompany us, as was also a small lantern, in case we should be com- 

 pelled to stop at any of the ranchos, where candles are almost unknown. We had evidence 

 in the condition of the streets, and a heavy shower, which had lasted from the time that our 

 trunks were under cover to the moment of departure, about 3 P. M., that the rainy season had 

 fully set in; but whilst quite reconciled to a thorough drenching during the ride, due prepara- 

 tions were made to ward off as much water as possible, and by the use of cloth clothing to guard 

 against the injurious effects of the rest. 



It was not without consciencious qualms that I could mount the small, skinny, and half- 

 starved beast brought to me; for she seemed tired, and altogether unfitted to carry my weight'a 

 journey of twenty-one miles, and twenty-one such miles as I had reason to believe them! But 

 the whole troop in front of the house were alike, and there was no alternative. Similar 

 animals could scarcely have been sold in the United States at any price; yet so great has been 

 the demand since the commencement of the emigration to California, that their value here is 

 from $80 to $100 each. 



Passing across the hill by the church, a sample of the road we were to travel over was at once 

 presented; or rather a sample of the path was, for the places where it is wide enough to be dig- 

 nified as a road are extremely few and far between. For the greater portion of the distance it is 

 only a succession of gullies worn in the rock by the action of water and the feet of animals, just 

 wide enough through the principal length of each for a single traveller, and even he must be 

 watchful to prevent his feet or legs from being torn by the rocks beside him. In other places there 

 are remains of an old paved road, said to have been made in the time of the buccaneers, now 

 torn stone from stone by mountain torrents. The debris lie in patches distinct from each other, 

 each interval a foot or more deep in mud and slime. And again in other parts there are quag- 



