them we were compelled to stay all night, for we dare not go on alone.  The place looked like a regular robbers’ roost, and being forced to sleep outside the huts, we considered it safest to sleep with one eye open.  We would have gone on with the boat only that we were afraid the river might have more than one outlet, and if we should take the wrong one we might be too late for the steamer, which even now we were afraid would not wait for us, and getting left would be a very serious matter in this country.

We had very little to eat, and all we could buy was sugar cane, bananas, monkeys and parrots.  We kept a sharp eye out for robbers, keeping together as much as we could, for we knew that all returning Californians would be suspected of having money.  Most all of them were ready for war except myself who had no weapon of any kind.  All of these people had a bad name, and every one of them carried a long bladed knife called a Macheta, with which they could kill a man at a single blow.  But with all our fears we got through the night safely, and in the morning found our boatmen who had hidden away.  We waited not for breakfast, but sailed away as soon as we could, and reached Chagres, near the mouth of the river, before night.

The river banks here are not more than three feet high, and farther back the land fell off again into a wet swamp of timber and dense vegetable growth.  The town was small and poorly built, on the immediate bank, and the houses were little brush and palm affairs except the boarding house which was “T” shaped, the front two stories high, with a long dining room running back, having holes for windows, but no glass in them.

Before the bell rung for meals a long string of hungry men would form in line, and at the first tap would make a rush for the table like a flock of sheep.  After all were seated a waiter came around and collected a dollar from each one, and we thought this paid pretty well for the very poor grub they served afterwards.

No ship had as yet been in sight to take us away from this lowest, dirtiest, most unhealthful place on earth, and the prospect of remaining here had nothing very charming about it.  The river was full of alligators, so the bathing was dangerous, and the whole country was about fit for its inhabitants, which were snakes, alligators, monkeys, parrots and lazy negroes.  It could not have been more filthy if the dregs of the whole earth had been dumped here, and cholera and yellow fever were easy for a decent man to catch.

My companion and I went out on the beach a mile or two to get the salt water breeze, and leave the stinking malaria for those who chose to stay in the hot, suffocating village, and here we would stay until nearly night.  Across a small neck of water was what was called a fort.  It could hardly be seen it was so covered with moss and vines, but near the top could be seen something that looked like old walls.  There was no sign of life about it, and I should judge it was built at some very early day.  Surely there was nothing here to protect, for the whole country did not seem able to support even a few barefooted soldiers.