ARRIVAL AT CHAGRES. 
195 
meat coaxed in with our fingers. Our second and last dish was 
boiled eggs. Our cook should have felt complimented, for we ate 
and drank everything in the house, and wanted more. She looked 
on with astonishment at the sudden disappearance of her stew 
and eggs, and said to one of our boatmen, “ los Americanos tiena 
mucho hambreand so we were hungry, or we could not have 
relished lizards even when stewed, for I must confess mjr predi¬ 
lections were never very stongly in favor of that particular spe¬ 
cies of reptile. In passing along down, we came in contact 
with the carcase of a large alligator; it had been pierced by seve¬ 
ral balls, and was now borne along by the current, destined, per¬ 
haps, to take up its final rest in the bosom of the Atlantic. In 
the afterpart of the day we were overtaken by Mr. Miller of 
Grorgona, who was expressing to the steamer at Chagres the 
arrival of the Oregon at Panama. Night overtook us in a 
most discordant mood, and at a great distance from our des¬ 
tination. 
We arrived at Gratun at 9 p.m. ; some were in favor of stop¬ 
ping, others of continuing on, the former had the majority, and 
we made fast to the shore, and had another dissertation on 
“poco tiempo,” and after an hour’s detention were again under 
way. 
At 2 A.M., we heard the souiid of drums, and our boatmen 
cry out “fandango;” we could soon distinguish the ocean by the 
halo that rose from its surface, and could plainly hear the surf 
as it broke upon the beach. We could see the lights on the 
steamer that was at anchor outside, and an occasional light 
dodging about on shore. 
At 3 a.m., we made fast to the American bank of the river, 
and had our baggage carried to the American Hotel. All were 
asleep, but we took possession of the dining-room and spread 
our blankets on the floor. The next morning we were all at 
breakfast precisely at the time and a little before. 
