206 
EXPLORING FOR CASTILLO A RUBBER 
gave out heat like base burners, and ached if one pointed at them, so 
they were anointed with cooling salves, hung in slings, and nearly 
cured by the time he got ashore. 
Thus we sailed and drifted, chiefly the latter, sleeping on deck 
until driven into the little cabin by an unusually heavy shower, usually 
to be driven out again by the heat, the bilge smell, and the ants, of 
which latter we had our own private colony. After a time, we left 
Panama Bay and felt the long swell of the Pacific. Then was sighted 
Punta Moro Puercos (Cape The-Death-of-the-Pig), and after that came 
a coast — rugged, mountainous, with no harbors, and the mountains 
shadowed by dense clouds, with all the evidences of continuous and heavy 
tropical rainstorms. 
After more drifting came Punta Mariato, which we rounded, and 
turning due north, made for the Gulf of Monti jo, where the schooner 
was to lie while the exploring party was ashore. Even after rounding 
the cape, the wind still continued light, and progress came chiefly from 
the impulse of the Pacific swell. , 
In these waters were many sharks, two of which carry a half dozen 
bullets apiece that I pumped into them from a Remington repeater, 
early one morning. Then, too, there was a water snake, Culebra marina , 
about three feet long, that was often in evidence, sometimes as many 
as thirty being seen in a day. We fished constantly, getting no bites, 
but the crew were more fortunate and speared some fish of a kind new 
to me. One, long and slim, resembling a mackerel, was of a beautiful 
bronze tint, with a spike on its nose, and a back fin running from the 
gills to the tail. Another was short, chunky, of a dingy blue color 
spotted with white polka dots. The natives called the former the 
“durado,” but had no name for the latter. 
Our drifting by the point did not last long, as the weather suddenly 
changed and the wind became so squally that the captain put out to sea 
lest he pile his vessel upon the inhospitable shore. That night I tried to 
sleep in the cabin but it was too disagreeable, so I put on a light rubber 
coat and rubber boots and slept soundly on deck with the rain beating 
in my face. It was so scorching hot in the daytime, that, when drifting, 
a tarpaulin was rigged as a shield under which were swung the ham- 
mocks, making quarters that were fairly comfortable. Some one called 
it the “Touraine,” because when it was half done it began to rain. 
Soon the schooner was off the Ouebro, a part of the territory said 
to contain a large settlement of outlaws. These fugitives from justice 
had heard of the approach of the Americanos and were rumored to be 
