LAYING IN PROVISIONS. 
383 
Chap. XXIII.—B. P.J 
edibles for the voyage; and here a difficulty arose, 
for Blewfields is not well stocked with provisions of 
the sort most palatable to Englishmen. Fortunately, 
I had arranged that the crew were to find their own 
provisions, and as I am easily satisfied, I considered 
myself in luck with the odds and ends collected by 
friends, such as a couple of tins of sardines, a canister 
of small biscuits, a piece of a ham, some hard-boiled 
eggs, a bucketful of oysters, a cold roast parrot, half- 
a-dozen of beer, a bottle of sherry, and some sugar 
of the coarsest description. This sugar is brought 
all the way from Jamaica, and is very dear; while 
perhaps of all countries, and especially in this imme¬ 
diate vicinity, Mosquito produces the finest canes. 
In some parts, Sugar Cane Creek, for example, near 
Pirn’s Bay, there are acres of it growing wild, and yet 
no one thinks of making sugar. 
Last, but not least, I was indebted for some tea to 
an Englis hm an, Mr. Wickham, engaged in a bird¬ 
shooting expedition. But for his kindness, I should 
have had to go up the river without any, for tea is 
scarce on the Mosquito coast, coffee and cocoa taking 
its place, as they are easily and cheaply raised on the 
spot; indeed, the latter can be bought from the Indians 
for a shilling a pound. 
To lose my accustomed tea would have been a severe 
deprivation; for in all my experience of travelling, 
whether in the East or West Indies, the Arctic regions 
or the tropics, the mountain or the plain, by land or 
by water, there is no other beverage which cheers or 
refreshes so much as a hot cup of tea. In my opinion, 
