IN PANAMA 203 



Here was a deadly, sticky, oppressive heat, with not a breath of 

 air stirring. The bare bedrooms were like ovens, and even the cone 

 of mosquito netting that hung over the bed was to the imaginaton as 

 stifling as a blanket. It was too hot to think of sleep, so we wandered 

 about the city, interested, amused, and disgusted interested by the 

 quaint and ancient architecture, amused by the police custom of blowing 

 whistles in concert when the clocks struck the hour, and disgusted by 

 the smells that many side streets developed. 



The next morning after coffee we went down to the water front, 

 where, lying high and dry on the beach, as the tide was out, was the 

 Almirante, the sixty-ton schooner that was to take us to our destina- 

 tion. The crew of five negroes, headed by the mate, was slowly getting 

 our outfit aboard, and at the same time chaffing the crews of nearby 

 hog schooners that were unloading by pushing their squealing freight 

 into the water to swim ashore as best Tt could. 



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

 cines, 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 merchants of the new republic, he 

 not only treated us with every consideration, and purchased most of 

 our supplies, but it was due to his alert helpfulness that we were not 

 tied up in that torrid city for a week or more, instead of getting away 

 in three days. But to return to our story. The breakfast 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 ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit, the air fairly reeking with 

 humidity. Along in the afternoon I wrote some letters, but could get 

 no stamps, as the government 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 twenty-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 to mention the crew's cook, 

 Jungo, and also our own, Raphael. I had also forgotten the dozen live 



