152 THE ISTIIMUS OF PANAMA. 



He had been out that day to catch a beef, and had 

 it already strung up in quarters, inside his house, 

 and was busy cutting it in strings to dry, as New 

 England people do pumpkins. It is after being cured 

 in this way, that it is sold by the yard in some places, 

 and it is the only way by which it can be preserved 

 in this country, for if packed in the ordinary manner, 

 it will spoil in spite of salt or brine. The strips are 

 cut from the muscle, or lean parts, free from fat, 

 and then rolled in fine salt, and hung immediately 

 in the sun to dry. 



Sefior Sipreon's house was better than is usually 

 found, having the thatch, on one side, extending 

 nearly to the ground, making an extra room ; and it 

 was in this that I found my patient, on a shelf made 

 of split reeds. 



As I called from day to day, I sometimes found 

 the old man preparing his homely meal, solitary 

 and alone. It consisted of jerked beef, rice, yams, 

 &c, stewed together, and sometimes, as an extra, a 

 roasted plantain. He was at least sixty years old, 

 and often told me that he had not had the fever for 

 the last forty. My patient's case grew desperate, and 

 I finally told the neighbor's wife, who was a relative, 

 and nursed him, that I was fearful he would not 

 recover: therefore, on my next visit, I found him 

 dressed in white pants, hose, and a clean linen shirt ; 

 but notwithstanding this unfavorable omen, I had 

 the satisfaction to see him afterwards perfectly re- 

 stored. 



These people seemed, in some measure, interested 



