2 
Rio Salud 
Unless you want to collect on the Lagarto, you 
should pass up Palmas Bellas entirely and make Salud your 
jumping off place. 
By leaving Colon fairly early you can get to Salud 
in the middle of the morning. If you have luck you might 
be able to recruit enough carriers there to go on the same 
day to Rio Indio. Salud is a fairly large town and there 
are plenty of men if they are not all out working in the 
fields, which I think unlikely. You can leave your car on 
the Colon side of the Rio Salud in charge of the crippled 
negro who lives there at the canoe crossing. The village 
is on the opposite side. We gave him a carton of cigarettes 
and he seemed very pleasant. Our car had not been touched 
while we were away. We paid a youngster 54^ a trip to ferry 
us over the river. We had one exceptionally good man from 
Salud by the name of Luis Delgado. He walked to and from 
Rio Indio each night to work with us there. He also brought 
us beans from Palmas Bellas as none were available in Rio 
Indio. If you should have the luck to locate him quickly 
when you get to Salud, he would probably be the one to round 
up your carriers. Two brothers by the name of Maldonado 
are apparently the most aggressive pair in town and you 
might be referred to them. They are pretty much schemers, 
however, and should be tactfully avoided as they would cost 
you money. 
