THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 141 



thing was musty, and covered with mould. We had 

 one hammock, which, from courtesy, w r as assigned 

 to me, and wrapping my cloak about me I turned in 

 and swung myself to sleep. 



At two o'clock in the morning the commissary, 

 who claimed to always sleep with one eye open, dis- 

 covered starlight through an opening in the roof, 

 and calling our attention to it, proposed an early 

 start, to which we most readily acceded, and, as I 

 turned out, a chill ran through my frame, at which 

 I was not surprised after such a night, nor could I 

 wonder at the feverish habits of the people, who 

 live in such habitations as this. 



To get our boatmen started was a work requiring 

 some patience, but finally, through the perseverance 

 of the commissary, it was effected, and we were 

 once more under way. The night was beautiful, and 

 every sound was hushed save the dipping of the 

 oars, as w T e moved along on the bosom of the stream 

 over which the trees and mountain-tops cast their 

 shadows by the light of the declining moon, now 

 lost to view, and then again appearing as we follow- 

 ed the ever varying course of the river, or passed 

 from behind the summit of a hill. Each one seemed 

 spell-bound, and scarce a word was uttered for hours 

 to break the solitude, which, like a pall spread over 

 the world, seemed to indicate that w T e were the only 

 survivors of the long night of death. 



At last the grey light of the morning appeared 

 in the eastern sky, and with it all nature became 

 reanimated ; the forest songsters aw T oke and resumed 



