IN PANAMA 
20 7 
prepared to resist any examination of that part of the land. If they 
believed the stories told them bv the Indians, that they were to be 
enslaved and have numbers branded upon their foreheads, one can 
scarcely blame them. 
The objective point, however, was farther down the coast, so we 
only saw the mouth of the Quebro River, with frowning mountains for 
a background. Very glad we were that the Quebro was not then in our 
itinerary, for that part of the country was black with thunder clouds, and 
drenched with showers that bore a close resemblence to cloudbursts. 
THE SCHOONER “ALM1RANTE.” 
Coasting along still further, we descried the mouth of the Mariato 
River, where the first landing was to be made. Here a fresh difficulty 
arose. El Capitan feared the shore and would not go nearer than five 
miles without a pilot. After a lurid conference, in Spanish, Portuguese, 
and English, it was suggested that he circle the nearby island of Cebaco, 
stop at Gubernador Island and borrow a pilot. And so it was decided, 
and the start made just as night fell. 
That night the air was heavy with moisture and had in it all of the 
makings of an electrical storm of great violence, but aside from the 
