366 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



only seen the two seas once before. The points at 

 which they were visible were the Gulf of Nicoya and 

 the harbour of San Juan, not directly opposite, but 

 nearly at right angles to each other, so that we saw 

 them without turning the body. In a right line over 

 the tops of the mountains neither was more than twen- 

 ty miles distant, and from the great height at which we 

 stood they seemed almost at our feet. It is the only 

 point in the world which commands a view of the two 

 seas ; and I ranked the sight with those most interest- 

 ing occasions, when from the top of Mount Sinai I look- 

 ed out upon the Desert of Arabia, and from Mount Hor 

 I saw the Dead Sea.* 



There is no history or tradition of the eruption of this 

 volcano ; probably it took place long before the country 

 was discovered by Europeans. This was one of the 

 occasions in which I regretted the loss of my barome- 

 ter, as th6 height of the mountain has never been meas- 

 ured, but is believed to be about eleven thousand feet. 



We returned to our horses, and found Mr. Lawrence 

 and the guide asleep. We woke them, kindled a fire, 

 made chocolate, and descended. In an hour we reach- 

 ed the hut at which we had slept, and at two o'clock 

 Cartago. 



Toward evening I set out with Mr. Lovel for a stroll. 

 The streets were all alike, long and straight, and there 

 was nobody in them. We fell into one which seemed 

 to have no end, and at some distance were intercepted 

 by a procession coming down a cross street. It was 

 headed by boys playing on violins ; and then came a 

 small barrow tastefully decorated, and strewed with 



* I have understood from several persons who have crossed the isthmus from 

 Chagres to Panama, that there is no point on the road from which the two seas 

 are visible. 



