THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 133 



who, innocently enough, had been somewhat free in 

 her remarks about " the vulgar men on board," and 

 who evidently had no better idea of crossing the 

 Isthmus than that a trip up the river Chagres would 

 be a merry excursion, and that riding a mule would 

 be romantic. On the following morning, when I saw 

 her packed into a small open boat, with some of the 

 " vulgar men," with the rain falling most unmerci- 

 fully, she looked crest-fallen, and if it would have 

 done any good, I most certainly should have pitied 

 her. 



It was not until the next clay that we left the 

 ship for J^avy Bay. Our party consisted of twelve 

 or fourteen, and we were obliged first to disembark 

 in a yawl and row out to the Railroad Company's 

 steamer, that w r as w r aiting to receive us. Scarcely 

 had we shoved off from the ship, when rain com- 

 menced falling, which, with the heavy sea, rendered 

 our condition anything but agreeable. As we neared 

 th e little steamer, we were alternately above and be- 

 low its deck, pitching up and down to such a degree 

 that it required a very accurate calculation of the 

 exact time to leap anywhere but into the sea. One 

 by one, however, we all succeeded, and at dark were 

 landed on the pier at Manzanilla Island. 



The sun had scarcely begun to shed its golden rays 

 upon the eastern sky, ere I was up on the following 

 morning, and, having taken a cup of coffee, started 

 out to view the island. 



That an insect, too minute to be seen without a 

 microscope, should have been employed to build up, 



