174 



VOYAGE TO PANAMA. 



disturbance was caused by a shower of rain. 

 Wonderful to relate, after two years^ drought, 

 the rain actually fell for at least three hours ! 

 I was in a hammock, under an open piazza, 

 exposed to the air. From this I was quickly 

 obliged to retreat to an iron bedstead within 

 the house. But of the many persons of both 

 sexes who slept on the tops of their houses ; 

 some like spectres in winding-sheets, were seen 

 gliding about their bedroom windows, through 

 which they vanished. Others, half naked, stood 

 wondering what to do. Every creature, man, 

 dog, duck, and mule, was uttering some inar- 

 ticulate sound, generally indicating both surprise 

 and pleasure. This morning the sand, before 

 light-coloured, has assumed a brown hue, and 

 the air is quite cool. 



The beach, for a long way up, is covered 

 with a cake of saltpetre. The soil is deeply 

 impregnated with salt, and when the moon 



