132 THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 



I hear, and as I frequently observed their sharp set 

 features, I own to have formed a very unfavorable 

 opinion of them. 



On the morning of the fifth day, we made the 

 high mountains of the Isthmus near Porto Bello, and 

 in approaching the coast, Navy Bay next appeared, 

 and soon after we were at anchor off Chagres, with 

 the moss-covered and time-blackened walls of the 

 old Fort San Lorenzo directly before us. 



To disembark was now the immediate business, 

 in which every one was striving to be first ; and at 

 Chagres it is a performance far more interesting to 

 witness than exj>erience. Imagine four or five hun- 

 dred passengers, each with carpet-bag and portman- 

 teau in hand, hurrying dowm the narrow steps by 

 the side of the ship, among a fleet of small boats, the 

 noisy owners of which, some black, some red, and 

 others white, are alike expert in the use of invec- 

 tievs, which they shower unsparingly on every one, 

 and to such a degree, that if the least of their impre- 

 cations were answered, the ship and all its contents 

 would immediately sink, and the reader will have 

 some slight idea of the scene. 



The cloud belt which hangs over this country 

 about half of the year, had already formed, and the 

 rain was falling plentifully as I silently looked on, 

 and with a degree of indifference, until the ladies, 

 of whom there was a goodly number on board be- 

 sides those already alluded to, came to depart, 

 when I could not refrain from a feeling of sorrow at 

 the pitiable plight they exhibited. There was one 



