184 



VOYAGE TO PANAMA. 



grounds^ and garden cultivation for every sort 

 of tropical fruit and vegetable^ with which the 

 ' island chiefly supplies the market of Panama. 

 The residents of Panama^ both Creole and 

 European^ are constantly crossing over to To- 

 bogo in canoes^ to pass a few days^ and en- 

 joy cooler breezes from the open sea. We 

 visited the alcalde^ who was very polite^ and 

 walked with us down to the beach to assist in 

 choosing a good canoe for my trip to the city. 

 This was a hollow tree^ two feet and a half wide^ 

 and about the same depths long enough for four 

 rowers^ with no ballast but my heavy port- 

 manteaus^ and so unsteady that it would have 

 been madness to stand up^ or lean on one side^ 

 as the frail craft would have been bottom up- 

 wards in an instant. My servant and I stowed 

 ourselves between the luggage, as low as we 

 could sit ; and thus we started from the side 

 of the Crawford, which was getting under way 



