294 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XYIII.-B.p. 
come a peace-loving and industrious people, competing 
only as to which part of their country could he made 
to yield the largest amount of agricultural or natural 
produce, in the shape of cotton, cocoa, sugar, coffee, 
and indigo; or, precious metals, woods, dyes, bal¬ 
sams, gums, and indiarubber. 
It was impossible not to pity the King, whose great 
misfortune seemed to he that he had not succeeded in 
making for himself a single enemy as a stimulant. No 
one, indeed, could help liking him, and this feeling be¬ 
came stronger on better acquaintance, as all of us bad 
an opportunity of proving ; for I found it advisable to 
ask his Majesty to pay me a visit on hoard the ‘ Gorgon,’ 
and take a cruise with me to some interesting parts of 
the Coast. 
The King accepted my invitation with unfeigned 
pleasure, and would have started for the ship there 
and then (so eager was he for the trip), had it been 
convenient for me to do so ; in the meantime, while 
preparation is being made to receive royalty with due 
honours, I must describe a visit to the King’s relatives, 
■—his mother and sisters. 
The King himself was a bachelor, the last in direct 
descent of a long line of Mosquitian rulers, and of pure 
Indian blood; his heir-apparent was the son of his 
elder sister, the Princess Victoria, who was married 
to a highly intelligent Mosquito Indian. 
The younger sister is also married, hut to an En¬ 
glishman, a quondam settler in the vicinity of Cape 
Gracias d Dios, who, however, for reasons best known 
to himself, has not entered an appearance in his 
