154 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



anchoring. A. " balsa" consists of two seal skins (or the skin& 

 of any other large animals) sewed up into bags, inflated with 

 air, and lashed side by side at one end, while at the other they 

 expand like a pair of compasses. At the small end or prow of 

 this primitive vessel sits a man astride, with his legs in the 

 water, who propels the balsa by means of a double paddle, 

 formed at each extremity like an oar blade, which he indus- 

 triously plys, first on one side and then on the other. It would 

 be no very monstrous conceit to compare him to some mytho- 

 logical being riding an inhabitant of the deep. A near ap- 

 proach, however, would at once undeceive you as to any pre- 

 tensions the rider might have in your imagination to godship, 

 and particularly if you should require his services in the line 

 of his business. He carries messages, catches fish, and smug- 

 gles silver and gold, which he secures in a leather bag under 

 his seat, and conveys them very safely on board, free of ex- 

 port duty. This class of amphibia on the whole coast is famed 

 for its honesty ; no instance of fraud being on record, except 

 "where custom house officers are concerned, though millions in 

 gold and silver have been intrusted to their conveyance. Their 

 mutual quarrels sometimes give rise to amusing scenes. It is 

 always an object, when they meet, to cut holes in each other's 

 "balsas;" when successful, which they often are after much 

 manoeuvring on both sides, the air escapes, and the discomfited 

 wight, left with only a flaccid hide for his support, is reduced 

 to the necessity of swimming for his life. Not unfrequently 

 the contest ends in the loss of both vessels ; but the anger of 

 the parties is completely washed away, by a cold bath and pro- 

 tracted swim, by the time they reach the shore '. 



The Port, as it is called to distinguish it from the City, is an 

 assemblage of about a dozen ranchos, (small huts), as many "ra- 

 madas," the custom house, and a two story building, erected by 

 one of those enthusiastic, ill directed, and long since bankrupt, 

 mining associations formed in England, which is now occupied 

 by the captain of the port. A "ramada" is a bivouac (fre- 

 quently for life) made by throwing together branches of trees 

 and bushes ; families not unfrequently pass their whole lives 

 without any other protection from the noonday sun, the night 



