234 CANAL NAVIGATION— TOWN OF CHAGRES. [1826. 



to avoid swamping her, as I believe you call it. I said nothing ; but I 

 felt that we had less than 4 a plank between us and destruction.' I 

 have often heard you assert that you never knew what fear was. I 

 thought of you at this moment, and became quite a hero. The moon 

 lent her light, although bedimmed by the mass of ragged clouds sur- 

 rounding her silver car, imposing a fleecy veil between the earth and 

 her tropical effulgence. Porto Bello lay in quiet repose, and really 

 presented a picturesque appearance. The town is situated at the base 

 of a very high hill, whose ascent is rarely attempted, the shrubbery 

 being almost impervious, and abounding with venomous serpents. The 

 only death which had occurred here for some time was occasioned by 

 the fangs of one of these reptiles, which assailed his victim in the 

 night, in his own domicil. 



" I had been but a few hours in Porto Bello, yet I felt as if I had 

 sojourned there for weeks ; and I assure you, my dear sir, that I expe- 

 rienced no regret at leaving it (temporarily, to be sure), as it lay in 

 beautiful relief in the moonlight — its few whitewashed buildings finely 

 contrasted with the long sweep of the sombre and towering forest 

 which overhung them. I pass over the night, which was sleepless. 

 Our two negroes plied their paddles unremittedly, unaided by a breath 

 of air to swell the canvass with which we were provided. 



" The morning dawned, or rather burst upon us, with that suddenness 

 of brilliancy so characteristic of the tropical regions, — I cannot describe 

 my sensations. We were paddling on a sleeping ocean, miles from 

 land ; and it seemed as if the slightest breeze would bury us in the 

 merest swell of the sea. No breeze came ; and, as noon approached, 

 I languished for one, indifferent as to consequences. The oppressive 

 influence of a vertical sun, falling on my unprotected head, was intol- 

 erable ; and to add to the unpleasantness of my feelings, our 4 noble 

 captain,' in the action of shifting his position in the bottom of the 

 canoe, actually perilled our safety ! so frail, so fragile was the accom- 

 modation which his hair-brained economy had provided. 4 Thinks I 

 to myself,' the next time I embark on an expedition of this kind, I will 

 exercise a little more precaution. We arrived at our port of destina- 

 tion, however, in safety. 



44 If Porto Bello, on a first acquaintance, impressed me so unfavour- 

 ably, what shall I say of Chagres ? On doubling the high and jutting 

 promontory at the base of which the town is situated, you are, in a 

 very few minutes, at the anchorage opposite. Impatient to despatch, 

 we arranged immediately for a canoe to ascend the river Chagres ; 

 having boarded a vessel from Jamaica, where the dinner was just 

 ready, — we are not in the habit of declining cordial invitations. I 

 now began to look about me. What a prospect ! A few wretched 

 hovels constructed of reeds, and indiscriminately located on a low 

 marshy plain — no wharf — no street — no any thing, indicative either of 

 commerce or intelligence : no human beings, except negroes, mu- 

 lattoes, and mestizoes. I felt extremely gloomy. What was I to ex- 

 pect as I proceeded 1 



44 Nearly all the houses are built of cane, and thatched ; most of 

 them are without any flooring but the bare earth. All that I had ever 



