44 



NARRATIVE OP A 



cessful, for after awhile she began to yield to the powerful 

 impulse thus given, and moved a little, then went ahead, 

 and at length, though not without a good deal of thump- 

 ing and dragging, passed the bar. 



During the detention incurred by the grounding of the 

 boat, I made another visit on shore, as well from curiosity 

 as for the sake of procuring vegetables and fruit. On 

 an elevated spot near the mouth of the river, and in a 

 romantic situation, there is a little village consisting of 

 forty or fifty huts, shaded by cocoa-nut trees. Thither I 

 proceeded with two of the passengers, and found the 

 place inhabited entirely by negroes, of the class called, as 

 I have elsewhere observed, Caribes. We entered one of 

 the best-looking huts, which we were told was the dwell- 

 ing of the Alcalde, or civil magistrate, and found there an 

 old negro lying sick in a hammock. He seemed glad to 

 see us, and addressed to us a few words in a language 

 almost unintelligible, being a mixture of French, Spanish, 

 and English ; but we made out that he had been for some 

 time suffering from an affection of the lungs, and would 

 take it as a great favour if we would recommend some- 

 thing for his relief. It is proper to remark here, that the 

 country-people in Central America look upon every fo- 

 reigner as a doctor, and place implicit faith in his pre- 

 scriptions. One of us did prescribe to him, but whether 

 to a good or a bad purpose, I cannot pretend to say. As 

 I had no part in this, my conscience has never troubled 

 me on the subject. The old man had a little image of 

 Nuestra Senora del Rosario suspended from his neck. 

 He was a great devotee of the virgin of this name, and 

 counted largely upon her favour and protection. He also 

 wore a little bag containing a relic of some saint, in 

 which, too, he had great faith. The cabin he lived in — 

 like all the others — was built of mud and cane reeds, and 

 thatched with palm leaves, with only one door, and no 

 windows. Though the largest in the village, it could not 

 have exceeded fifteen feet square in extent. His furniture 



