Jan.] RIVER CHAGRES — CROSS THE ISTHMUS. 235 



heard of the unhealthiness of these regions seemed as if marked on a 

 map before me. Deprived in a great measure of the sea-breeze, 

 with a soil of such fecundity that the saying is common, « put a plant 

 invertedly in the earth and it will grow ;' with rain in its season burst- 

 ing in torrents, a vertical sun almost instantly succeeding, shedding its 

 scorching rays, and decomposing the vegetation which the rain had 

 prostrated ; poisonous miasmata, deleterious gases, and ten thousand 

 noxious exhalations ; with all these legibly written, as it were, upon 

 the very face of the prospect, how could I prevent the intrusion of 

 mental images connected with pestilence and death ! On the opposite 

 side of the river, amid the plantains, and an impenetrable forest of 

 dwarfish trees, the stately cocoanut towered at intervals, imparting an 

 oriental beauty to the landscape, even as does the lofty palm, which it 

 resembles. I gazed in sorrow, and with melancholy forebodings. The 

 last words our friend Captain H. said to me on parting, were, « Take 

 care, my boy, that you do not lay your head under one of the cocoa- 

 nut-trees.' To die in such a place ! It appeared to me that a Caesar 

 could not have indulged the contemplation without a shudder ! This 

 place is situated in lat. 9° 20' north, long. 80° 30' west. At least so I 

 was informed ; I merely mention it because you charged me to be par- 

 ticular with respect to locations. It is the situation of Fort San Lo- 

 renzo, which stands on a steep rock on the east side of the river, near 

 the seashore. 



" All things being in readiness, we embarked in a canoe, on the 

 waters of the Chagres. This river was formerly called Lagartos, 

 from the number of alligators which infested it. It is navigable for 

 sea-vessels only a short distance ; but for boats down stream it is the 

 channel of commerce between the two oceans. It rises on the ninth 

 parallel of north latitude, in the mountains near Cruces, between the 

 Bay of Panama on the Pacific side and Point St. Bias on the Atlantic 

 side of the isthmus, which here runs nearly north-east and south-west. 

 From its source the Chagres flows westwardly about sixty miles, then 

 turns to the north for thirty miles, which brings it to the point of our 

 embarkation, where it falls into the Caribbean Sea. I was aware that 

 the passage of this river was obstructed by the trunks of trees which 

 had fallen into it ; and also by swift currents over the shallows ; and 

 consequently did not anticipate much pleasure in the excursion. 



" The canoe was managed by four negroes, destitute even of a fig- 

 leaf to cover them. Our accommodations consisted of a cabin, in 

 which it was impossible to turn round, and which was formed of hides 

 spread over bended poles, somewhat after the fashion of our Yankee 

 wagons. We had provided a tolerable stock of provisions, and thus 

 we commenced our voyage towards the Pacific Ocean. The ascent 

 of the Chagres proved as uninteresting as it was tedious. The mon- 

 keys chattered at us as we passed them, and the wild beasts looked as 

 if they wished to eat us. We kept on, however, and after proceeding 

 about fifteen miles, landed at a small town, located on a bank a number 

 of feet in height, and which presented an appearance of cleanliness not 

 found in Chagres. We passed a number of rapids as we advanced ; 

 and in one instance the canoe capsized, and my entire wardrobe was 



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