Chap. X.—B. S.] INDEPENDENT INDIANS. 
1G3 
ing, but lie seemed not to understand a syllable; 
I then finally brought out a few words of Bayano, 
when all at once his face brightened up, and I found 
that he belonged to the tribe which speaks that lan¬ 
guage, and that he had taken passage at San Bias. 
He was dubbed “ Friday ” by us, and Mr. S. Pittar 
brought him to England when his yacht returned 
home. But poor Friday, though his kind master 
had given him plenty of warm clothing, was so much 
affected by our winter that when I saw him again I 
scarcely recognized him. He had lost all his agility, 
was gloomy, and always sitting near the fire; so that 
nothing could be done with him except to send him 
home again. 
The Bayano Indians whom we met at Jesus-Maria 
were friendly, and much amused witli a piece of ice 
which was handed to them. They had evidently 
never seen frozen water before, and thought it was a 
kind of hot transparent iron, which they instantly 
dropped when first put into their hands. But when 
their first astonishment had passed, they begged to 
have another piece, which they put into a calabash, 
and then, jumping into their canoe, they paddled off 
in great haste, probably wishing to show the curiosity 
obtained to their friends; which, however, must have 
melted long before they reached their homes. 
We were away three days from Panama, and the 
excursion was a most pleasant one. I am fully aware 
that a scientific man has no business to make a plea¬ 
sant excursion, and I ought to know better than say 
anything about it; but unfortunately the Panama 
