LA UNION. 



39 



Toward evening my men all woke ; the wind was 

 fair, but they took things quietly, and after supper hoist- 

 ed sail. About twelve o'clock, by an amicable arrange- 

 ment, I stretched myself on the pilot's bench under the 

 tiller, and when I woke we had passed the Volcano of 

 Tigris, and were in an archipelago of islands more beau- 

 tiful than the islands of Greece. The wind died away, 

 and the boatmen, after playing for a little while with 

 the oars, again let fall the big stone and went to sleep. 

 Outside the awning the heat of the sun was withering, 

 under it the closeness was suffocating, and my poor 

 mules had had no water since their embarcation. In 

 the confusion of getting away I had forgotten it till the 

 moment of departure, and then there was no vessel in 

 which to carry it. After giving them a short nap I 

 roused the men, and with the promise of a reward in- 

 duced them to take to their oars. Fortunately, before 

 they got tired we had a breeze, and at about four o'clock 

 in the afternoon the big stone was dropped in the har- 

 bour of La Union, in front of the town. One ship was 

 lying at anchor, a whaler from Chili, which had put in 

 in distress and been condemned. 



The commandant was Don Manuel Romero, one of 

 *Morazan's veterans, who was anxious to retire altogeth- 

 er from public life, but remained in office because, in 

 his present straits, he could be useful to his benefactor 

 and friend. He had heard of me, and his attentions 

 reminded me of, what I sometimes forgot, but which 

 others very rarely did, my official character ; he invited 

 me to his house while I remained in La Union, but gave 

 me intelligence which made me more anxious than ever 

 to hurry on. General Morazan had left the port but a 

 few days before, having accompanied his family thither 

 on their way to Chili. On his return to San Salvador 



