166 
GUATEMALA. 
Antilles or the Hawaiian Islands ; but it is claimed that 
they dare not venture between the piles. The young 
sharks however have no such scruples ; and we kicked 
several of the little fellows out of our way. The iron¬ 
work was thickly covered with barnacles and other crus¬ 
taceans, and it took considerable skill to avoid being 
dashed against this. 
On the pier-head there was a cool sea-breeze, and we 
spent much of our time there while waiting for the return 
train. A pier was built here in 1868 ; but a storm of un¬ 
usual severity soon after destroyed it, and the present 
structure was built in a more substantial manner. The 
piles are of cast iron and hollow, fitted with auger- 
points, by which they are screwed down into the sand. 
The end of the wharf is covered by a shed, where are 
provided three steam hoisting-engines. As San Jose 
is, like most of the ports on the Pacific coast, merely 
an open roadstead, vessels do not care to wait long 
there, and stout lighters are provided to bring cargo 
between ship and pier. Even with lighters of some 
twenty-five tons, the task is not always easy, and 
many a passenger gets a wetting in jumping from the 
small boat to the iron cage used in rough weather 
to hoist the human freight to the pier-top. Since the 
completion of the railroad, in 1880, the tracks have 
been laid along the pier,— thus facilitating the hand¬ 
ling of freight, much of which is lumber coming from 
the Oregon coast, and sugar, coffee, and hides going 
to San Francisco. To-day two ships were at anchor, 
and a steamer was expected. 
As we sat in the cool shade on the end of the pier, 
looking dreamily over the Pacific, I felt that the journey 
