206 EXPLORING FOR CASTILLOA RUBBER 



gave out heat like base burners, and ached if one pointed at them, so 

 they were anointed with cooling salves, hung in slings, and nearly 

 cured by the time he got ashore. 



Thus we sailed and drifted, chiefly the latter, sleeping on deck 

 until driven into the little cabin by an unusually heavy shower, usually 

 to be driven out again by the heat, the bilge smell, and the ants, of 

 which latter we had our own private colony. After a time, we left 

 Panama Bay and felt the long swell of the Pacific. Then was sighted 

 Punta Moro Puercos (Cape The-Death-of-the-Pig), and after that came 

 a coast rugged, mountainous, with no harbors, and the mountains 

 shadowed by dense clouds, with all the evidences of continuous and heavy 

 tropical rainstorms. 



After more drifting came Punta Mariato, which we rounded, and 

 turning due north, made for the Gulf of Monti jo, where the schooner 

 was to lie while the exploring party was ashore. Even after rounding 

 the cape, the wind still continued light, and progress came chiefly from 

 the impulse of the Pacific -swell. , 



In these waters were many sharks, two of which carry a half dozen 

 bullets apiece that I pumped into them from a Remington repeater, 

 early one morning. Then, too, there was a water snake, Cnlebra marina, 

 about three feet long, that was often in evidence, sometimes as many 

 as thirty being seen in a day. We fished constantly, getting no bites, 

 but the crew were more fortunate and speared some fish of a kind new 

 to me. One, long and slim, resembling a mackerel, was of a beautiful 

 bronze tint, with a spike on its nose, and a back fin running from the 

 gills to the tail. Another was short, chunky, of a dingy blue color 

 spotted with white polka dots. The natives called the former the 

 "durado," but had no name for the latter. 



Our drifting by the point did not last long, as the weather suddenly 

 changed and the wind became so squally that the captain put out to sea 

 lest he pile his vessel upon the inhospitable shore. That night I tried to 

 sleep in the cabin but it was too disagreeable, so I put on a light rubber 

 coat and rubber boots and slept soundly on deck with the rain beating 

 in my face. It was so scorching hot in the daytime, that, when drifting, 

 a tarpaulin was rigged as a shield under which were swung the ham- 

 mocks, making quarters that were fairly comfortable. Some one called 

 it the "Touraine,"" because when it was half done it began to rain. 



Soon the schooner was off the O'uebro, a part of the territory said 

 to contain a large settlement of outlaws. These fugitives from justice 

 had heard of the approach of the Americanos and were rumored to be 



