THE SAN BLAS PEOPLE 



the mainland of the Western World, and Victor 

 came aboard. Victor was a lean black man 

 with bad teeth but an agreeable smile. That 

 night the swell rolled us out of our cots it 

 was too hot to sleep below and the rain beat 

 under our deck awning. 



We wallowed out into the open again at day- 

 light, trolling for kings and mackerel as we 

 went. About noon we breasted Cape San 

 Bias, swung through an opening in a foaming 

 reef, rounded a tiny key covered with palms, 

 and anchored off the governor's house. 



Shortly before this, the Panamanian govern- 

 ment had begun an effort to tame the San 

 Bias people and to reclaim their coast, and 

 to that end it had established this post. The 

 taming and reclaiming process had not pro- 

 gressed noticeably at the time of our visit. 



Governor Huertado was polite and friendly, 

 being, I think, lonesome for a sight of new 

 faces. He volunteered to meet us the next 

 day at Cardi, the largest village at this end of 

 the coast, and to act as envoy extraordinary to 

 the chief, an offer we gladly accepted. His 

 doctor showed us some few photographs he 

 had clandestinely secured during official visits 

 to the various towns, but discouraged us from 



in 



