THE ISTHMUS OF TANAM A. 155 



passage to the States. It was truly pleasing to 

 watch the sudden change from the care-worn, woe- 

 begone countenance that I had observed from day 

 to day, to one of comparative cheerfulness, and as 

 we started off, one poor fellow, who had been sick 

 and sadly frightened, gave utterance to his feelings 

 in addressing me, " Well, Doctor, I no go on the hill 

 now." "On the hill" was the burying-ground. 



We had hardly got under way, and in the full en- 

 joyment of the prospect of a pleasant trip down the 

 river, when I was called to prescribe for the Captain, 

 who I had observed to take frequent draughts of wa- 

 ter, which were invariably deposited over the guards 

 into the stream again, from which it had been dip- 

 ped. I found him burning with fever, yet under the 

 necessity of performing the double duty of com- 

 mander and pilot ; nor was this the worst of it : the 

 engineer was left behind sick, the fireman had 

 just " given out," and the crew consisted of but two 

 men besides, and one of these was a raw Spaniard, 

 who had never been upon a steamboat before, and 

 unable to understand a word of English, and, conse- 

 quently, when told to "come here," would be likely 

 to go there, or to "haul in," would let go. This was 

 an interesting state of things, truly, on board of a 

 high-pressure steamer, which suggested the idea that 

 the chances were about equal for a passage to Eter- 

 nity, as to any place on this sphere, even Chagres. 



Happening to know a man on board who had 

 steered a flat-boat down the Mississippi, I suggested 

 that he should take the Captain's place at the helm, 



