110 THE TKANSIT EOAD. Book I. 
adventurer, and I saw him sitting in his tent outside the 
town. It was on the 3rd of October, not long before he 
succeeded in taking possession of the city of Granada and 
making himself, for a short time, master of Nicaragua. 
But of this remarkable episode in the history of Central 
America I shall take an opportunity of speaking more in 
a subsequent chapter. 
In 1855 the transit road between San Juan del Sur and 
Virgin Bay was in a tolerably good condition, and the 
passengers of the steamer Cortes, in whose company I 
passed over the Isthmus, found it dry enough even then, 
in the rainy season, to walk over a great portion, for the 
purpose of obtaining some exercise between the two sea- 
voyages. This walk was a real pleasure trip, which we 
all enjoyed ; the beauty of the scenery in passing the hills, 
and the purity of the air, making the whole party feel 
delighted with the country. 
But I must not forget that I have to return to February, 
1851. At that time no transit road existed, and the line 
it was to follow was scarcely marked in its extent by a cut 
through the woods. In reference to the two termini, on 
the lake and on the Pacific, considerable pains were taken 
to keep the public in ignorance. But having once hit upon 
the line, I followed it as much as I could on my return to 
the shore of the lake, which I reached at the place where 
the little town of Virgin Bay was founded shortly after. 
The distance between this place and San Juan del Sur is 
twelve miles. Biding through the forest I saw several 
trunks of trees lying on the ground in a state of slow com- 
bustion. The fire, having begun at one of their ends, was 
glowing, without flame, like that of a cigar, and its progress 
was so gradual, that, as long as I stood by, I could not 
observe the slightest advancement. From the ashes on 
