VOYAGE TO PANAMA. 



185 



to pursue her voyage. I was not much at ease 

 in this sort of conveyance^ and my prejudice 

 against it was not diminished by having seen * 

 how easily another of the same kind^ which a 

 boy had paddled alongside in the mornings 

 was accidentally upset by a sailor jumping into 

 it to buy fruit. All the cargo, with the buyer 

 and seller, were precipitated into the water; 

 but the sailor got astride of the canoe which 

 had turned completely over, and dragged the 

 boy on to the opposite end; and there they 

 sat, the boy crying for fear of the sharks, and 

 the sailor laughing at the boy, until the Craw- 

 ford^s boat picked them up. 



It was a dead calm, but a long heavy swell 

 accompanied us all the nine miles. The least 

 vagary would have capsized the boat, and we 

 should have been devoured for breakfast by a 



