PANAMA. 



213 



richj loamy^ soft^ red clay. I have^ notwith- 

 standing^ ventured forth in the mud^ before the 

 commencement of the rain^ which generally 

 begins at eleven o^clock. The last day I did 

 this^ I encountered a large tiger-cat at the en- 

 trance of the suburbs^ in pursuit of two fowls , 

 which had got into the jungle. A woman at a \ 

 cottage close to the spot^ said the fowls were 

 hers, and that the tiger-cat had thought proper 

 to hunt them several times before. 



The dress of the market-people is very sim- 

 ple. Both men and women have often nothing 

 on but a shirt ; and to-day I met a man outside 

 the town, without any other covering than a 

 hat, j/ nada mas. 



By the last arrangement affecting this coun- 

 try, it forms the north-west boundary of New 

 Granada, commonly called Columbia ; but 



