HOMEWARD BOUND — SOUTHWARD. 283 



get shot. He was a short, stout man with a smooth, red face. 

 He left our vessel, I think, at Acapulco to go on the " Oregon " 

 for San Juan del Sur ; as when next heard from he was on the 

 opposite side of the Isthmus, where, failing in an insurrection, 

 he was captured, led out in front of a file of half-savage 

 soldiers and shot down like a convict, the victim of not 

 minding his own business. 



On the 12th we came in sight of the chain of desolate 

 mountains which fringes the southwestern coast of Mexico. 

 Continuing we came to the harbor of Acapulco, and winding 

 between the rocky islands and promontories which arose 

 around us, we came to anchor at 4 o'clock opposite the town. 

 Here we found our rival, the " Golden Gate," the " Oregon " 

 and a large collier, from which we got a supply of coal before 

 leaving. 



We had hardly dropped anchor before a number of natives 

 swam out to us. AVith their dark features, wild eyes and 

 shaggy hair, they looked like so many sea-imps while dis- 

 porting around us as we lay three hundred yards from shore. 

 They howled to us to throw " dimeys " and " picayuneys" into 

 the sea, and then see how they would bring them up. Those 

 who were rich enough to invest did so, and following the 

 coins with their sharp eyes, the divers soon brought them to 

 the surface, and shouted for more " dime3^s." They stayed in 

 the water hours at a time. 



Several boats manned — if this term is admissible in refer- 

 ence to such people — by the wretched looking natives soon 

 put off from shore for the purpose of carrying such of us to 

 land as wanted to go. Many of us went. There was no land- 

 ing-place ; we simply got our boats as near dry land as possi- 

 ble, and jumped ashore on the sandy beach which extends 

 front of the town. 



Acapulco makes a picturescjue appearance from the bay, 

 with its low, white buildings shaded by tropical trees, and the 



