282 ELDORADO 



liauntepec nothing of special note occurred before 

 reaching- the Isthmus, our vessel being for the most 

 part out of sight of land. 



The day previous to our arrival at Panama a serious 

 riot occurred there in which several lives were lost. 

 A passenger en route for California, had a dispute 

 with a native over the purchase of a watermelon 

 which resulted in a general fight between the passen- 

 gers on the one side and citizen soldiers on the other. 

 The doors and sides of the railroad depot were perfo- 

 rated with bullets ; and as the excitement had not sub- 

 sided when we arrived, the passengers from our shi] 

 were not permitted to mingle with the natives, but 

 were hurried aboard the train and conveved at once 

 across the Isthnms twenty-six miles to Aspen wall now 

 "Colon."' 



As I have given somewhat of a detailed account of 

 the overland journev to California bv the gold seekers 

 in '49-'5o T will briefly refer to the Panama route, 

 which, with the longer trip around Cape Horn, was 

 taken chiefly bv those living near the Atlantic sea- 

 board, amounting in the vears T have mentioned to not 

 less than thirty thousand. The time occti])icd from 

 New York to San Francisco by this route was from 

 thirty-five to fortv days, and the expense would range 

 from three to five hundred dollars. Around the 

 "TTorn" on a sailing vessel six or seven months were 

 consmncd. The distance from New York to San 

 Francisco by Panama was seven thousand miles. 

 Around Cape Horn fifteen thousand. "Much suffering 

 and manv deaths occurred on these routes. 



The following, from the diary of a physician, James 



