sisal. 395 



of a long wooden dock, built out on the open shore of 

 the sea, where we were challenged by a soldier. At 

 the head of the pier was a guard and custom house, 

 where an officer presented himself to escort us to the 

 commandant. On the right, near the shore, was an 

 old Spanish fortress with turrets. A soldier, barely- 

 distinguishable on the battlements, challenged us ; and, 

 passing the quartel, we were challenged again. The 

 answer, as in Central America, was " Patria libre." 

 The tone of the place was warlike, the Liberal party 

 dominant. The revolution, as in all the other places, 

 had been conducted in a spirit of moderation ; but when 

 the garrison was driven out, the commandant, who had 

 been very tyrannical and oppressive, was taken, and 

 the character of the revolution would have been stained 

 by his murder, but he was put on board a bungo and 

 escaped. We were well received by the commandant ; 

 and Captain Fensley took us to the house of an ac- 

 quaintance, where we saw the captain of the brig in the 

 offing, which was to sail in eight days for Havana, and 

 no other vessel was expected for a long time. We 

 made arrangements for setting out the next day for 

 Merida, and early in the morning accompanied the 

 captain to the pier, saw him embark in a bungo, waited 

 till he got on board, and saw the brig, with a fine 

 breeze and every sail set, stand out into the ocean for 

 home. We turned our backs upon it with regret. 

 There was nothing to detain us at Sisal. Though pret- 

 tily situated on the seashore and a thriving place, it 

 was merely the depot of the exports and imports of 

 Merida. At two o'clock we set out for the capital. 



We were now in a country as different from Central 

 America as if separated by the Atlantic, and we began 

 our journey with an entirely new mode of conveyance. 



