ANDACOLLO LIMA — PANAMA — ^JAMAICA. 163 



like/' '*' Well, a beefsteak, chop, eggs and bacon — any- 

 thing you like ; but bring beer, and quickly too/' She 

 disappeared, and I went and saw my horse fed — a pre- 

 caution never to be forgotten in any part of the world, 

 by the bye. On my return the landlady addressed me 

 in measured accents : '^ Sir, I wish to speak with you a 

 few words ; we have no steak/' " No chops ? " " No." 

 '' No eggs ? " " No." " No nothing ? " " W ell, sir, I 

 think there is a small piece of salt meat." Gracious 

 Heaven! salt meat after a long day's ride under a 

 Jamaica sun ! '' But the beer, good lady, bring the 

 beer." ^' Sir, there is no heer ! " If ever I used bad 

 French, I did then. However, I got a good bed, and 

 about the best thing you can do in such cases is to 

 drown your cares in the sheets. 



Before going to bed, however, I lit a cigar and strolled 

 down a winding lane through the wood. I hardly know 

 which is more enjoyable, the evenings or the days in the 

 tropics. Tired nature seems to rest, lulled to sleep by 

 the myriad hum of the insect world ; the stately cocoanut 

 and branching palm stand out still and dark against the 

 evening sky j countless fireflies sparkle in the thickets, 

 or flicker across one's path, some displaying their tiny 

 lamps on the dewy grass, others gemming the topmost 

 frond of a branching fern with a quivering star, and 

 over all reigns a deep and solemn stillness as of death, 

 rendered more intense by that indefinable hum of insects 

 which at times seems only the singing of one's ears. 

 Suddenly, a bull frog from a neighbouring pool pipes 

 up; in an instant, all around you, a thousand answer 

 him, and then again all is silent. 



I was up betimes in the morning, not choosing to trust 

 any more to my landlady, as far as meals were concerned. 



M 2 



