START FOR CHAGRES. 
198 
the spur into my mule, and with one terrific leap we pass through 
unscathed. The demons gave chase, but borne on the wings 
of fear we soon reached the other side of the earth. Here every¬ 
thing appears strange; my mule has but two legs, and wears 
boots and spurs; I have four legs, and a pair of enormous ears; 
I am led up to a block and mounted by his muleship , who, after 
lighting his cigar, applies his spurs ; I determined to reach the 
other side by recrossing his “ Satanic majestie’s ” dominions, and 
after passing through the same horrifying scene, regained the 
starting point. I remounted my mule, which now seemed to 
have the usual number of legs, and after crossing sloughs and 
climbing mountains, we came to a precipice which he refused to 
descend. After repeated applications of the spur, he reared and 
plunged, and as he reached the brink of the precipice he settled 
back, and I passed over his head; in passing over I caught hold 
of his ears, which, pulling out, I was precipitated into the abyss 
below. The concussion awoke me, and I found that I had fallen 
from my trunk, and was grasping tightly the bottoms of the 
legs of my pantaloons. 
In the morning we had the satisfaction of learning that our 
mules had strayed, and were detained until 10 o’clock. We 
reached Gorgona at 4 p.m. As we were entering the town, we 
met a funeral procession headed by a fife and drum; the corpse 
borne on a bier with face uncovered, (coffins are not used,) the 
mother of deceased standing in the door of her dwelling, utter¬ 
ing the most heart-rending exclamations. The whole was accom¬ 
panied by the uncouth sound of a piece of old iron hanging in 
the church door, serving as a bell, and at this particular time 
undergoing a severe castigation. Towards evening, another 
corpse was borne along with the same accompaniments. The 
deceased was a small child; its head was decorated with flowers, 
its face uncovered, looking the very personation of sleeping in¬ 
nocence. 
We put up at the French Hotel, and learning that the Empire 
City was to remain but one day longer at Chagres, we resolved 
to embark early the next morning. We contracted with a na¬ 
tive to take our party of eleven for $22, and at an early hour 
were en route. We glided down the river very pleasantly, pro¬ 
pelled by three oarsmen, with our worthy captain at the helm. 
13 
