304 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XVIII.—B. P. 
meet, when off duty, on such terms as must tend to 
establish and maintain unanimity and good feeling. 
The King surprised us also by his knowledge of 
English poetry. He said he had tried his hand at a 
few stanzas in his own language, and repeated them 
to us. No one present could understand them, yet 
the words sounded soft and musical. 
After dinner we discussed the programme of the 
coming cruise, decided to pay a visit, in the first 
place, to Corn Islands, then look in at the anchorage 
under Monkey Point, since called Pirn’s Bay, and 
afterwards run down to Gfreytown to see how matters 
were going on there, and if the filibusters had yet 
entered an appearance,—the bare prospect of which 
seemed to give the King unqualified delight. “ No¬ 
thing,” said he, “will save Central America but an 
infusion of new blood, and that is one of the things 
the Yankees thoroughly understand; they are born 
filibusters, especially the Southerners. "Walker had 
more than proved this already, for had he not landed 
at San Juan del Sur with 57 men only, and fought 
and won” (this with great emphasis) “the battle of 
Bivas against fearful odds,—at least twenty to one ? 
Eor his part he wished the gallant fellow luck, with all 
his heart. 
To all points connected with his country the King 
had evidently paid great attention, and as a slight 
sketch of the people and their historical antecedents 
may be both interesting and useful, I shall in the next 
chapter give some information on those points. 
