VISIT TO THE CARIB INDIANS. 27 



awning ; the sun was intensely hot, but we were shel- 

 tered, and had a refreshing breeze. The coast assu- 

 med an appearance of grandeur and beauty that real- 

 ized my ideas of tropical regions. There was a dense 

 forest to the water's edge. Beyond were lofty mount- 

 ains, covered to their tops with perpetual green, some 

 isolated, and others running off in ranges, higher and 

 higher, till they were lost in the clouds. 



At eleven o'clock we came in sight of Puenta Gor- 

 da, a settlement of Carib Indians, about a hundred and 

 fifty miles down the coast, and the first place at which 

 I had directed the captain to stop. As we approached 

 we saw an opening on the water's edge, with a range 

 of low houses, reminding me of a clearing in our for- 

 ests at home. It was but a speck on the great line of 

 coast ; on both sides were primeval trees. Behind 

 towered an extraordinary mountain, apparently broken 

 into two, like the back of a two-humped camel. As 

 the steamboat turned in, where steamboat had never 

 been before, the whole village was in commotion : 

 women and children were running on the bank, and 

 four men descended to the water and came off in a 

 canoe to meet us. 



Our fellow-passenger, the padre, during his residence 

 at Balize, had become acquainted with many of the 

 Caribs, and, upon one occasion, by invitation from its 

 chief, had visited a settlement for the purpose of mar- 

 rying and baptizing the inhabitants. He asked wheth- 

 er we had any objection to his taking advantage of the 

 opportunity to do the same here ; and, as we had none, 

 at the moment of disembarking he appeared on deck 

 with a large wash-hand basin in one hand, and a well- 

 filled pocket-handkerchief in the other, containing his 

 priestly vestments. 



