250 



CENTRAL AMERICA. 



Indians may be seen fishing on the river, 

 rather far from home, in their small but fast 

 canoes. 



They have no trade, commerce, or even 

 barter with other tribes, and certainly have 

 a dread of the English, which has probably 

 been handed down to them by tradition from 

 their forefathers. Judging by the rather fat 

 condition of the specimens we saw, they could 

 not be in much want of food. 



The morning we arrived at the Boca we 

 got under- way two hours before daylight, 

 and after pulling until sun-rise, the men laid 

 in the oars and sung their morning- hymn, 

 after which the patron chaunted a prayer 

 different from what I had yet heard, and 

 which was a thanksgiving for having per- 

 formed our voyage in safety. They then 

 washed themselves and the piragua and re- 

 sumed their white shirts, trowsers, and red 

 sashes, that had been carefully stowed away 

 since our departure. We then proceeded on 

 our journey, and soon landed at the Boca, 

 which consists of a few miserable huts and 

 a shed that does duty for a custom-house. 



This poor village is built on the western 

 end of a slip of low sandy land on the left 

 bank, about two or three hundred yards in 



