Chap. I. CASTLE OF SAN LOKENZO. 11 
Mounting the steep hill on which the castle of San 
Lorenzo is situated, I saw — as a physician would say — a 
splendid specimen of elephantiasis, in the shape of the 
monstrous leg of a negro, sitting at the side of the footpath. 
The castle, which once defended the northern entrance to 
the passage across the isthmus of Panama, is one of the 
most remarkable monuments of Spanish dominion in those 
parts of the world ; though, from the effects of the excessive 
dampness of the climate, and from want of repair, it is 
almost a ruin, its material being a variety of sandstone 
which is unfit for withstanding the attacks of atmospherical 
influences. In one of the courts stood a wooden building, 
the residence of a solitary officer styled the " comman- 
dante ; " but I saw no trace of a garrison, not even a single 
guard to prevent me and my companions from entering a 
vault which we found to contain I cannot tell how many 
thousand pounds of moist gunpowder in open boxes, which 
some of us investigated with a lighted cigar in the mouth 
before recognizing the dangerous nature of the substance. 
Old pieces of artillery, some of very heavy calibre, and 
pyramids of piled-up balls and shells lay about on the 
ground. Besides a large number of iron guns, I counted 
ten guns and mortars of bronze. Two of the latter, of 
beautiful workmanship, reciprocally bore the inscriptions : 
" ElEscorpion. Sevilla, 1749 ; " and " El Dr aeon. Sevilla, 
1742." 
The view from the castle is grand and beautiful. On 
one side is the sea, washing the foot of the hill on which it 
stands, and which is very precipitous in this direction. A 
line of coast, covered with forest down to the beach, ex- 
tends from hence in a long sweep. Towards the interior a 
country of wooded hills unfolds itself, and leaves a passage 
to the river, which may be traced with the eye for a con- 
