city of to-day, and the tomb-tower of San Ger6nlmo
designating the site of old Pananid, which the bold
buccaneers ravished with such a relish ; the hazy moun-
tains beyond, with their curiously shaped crests — ^thus
quietly watching the boats come and go, the fruit-
venders dispensing their wares, the sea-birds circling
round the ship, and turkey -buzzards solemnly sailing
through the air; listening to the friendly waters which
lap the smooth sides of our monster vessel, with the
softly perfumed air that wanders objectless between the
sea and the low-lying sky, there comes stealing in upon
the senses a delicious repose. Up to this point, and for
several months past, mind and body have been upon the
rack about this California expedition. There were
the preparations, the adieux, the embarkation, the
voyage, the Isthmus ; then there is the remainder of
it, the voyage up the coast, the landing, the new life,
with all its desperate ventures and uncertainties ; but
here, for the moment, is perfect rest, earth, sea, and
sky combining to intoxicate the senses, enrapture the
soul, and overspread all with a sensuous tranquillity
and calm.
At this time the commander of our steamer, which was the Panama, was that veteran of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Watkins, called commodore ; and among the five hundred and ninety-four passengers were Mr Hutch ins, Mrs Davenport, Gihon, Maguire, and others notable in the annals of California. Late in the afternoon of the 12th of March, the chain from the buoy was dropped, and clearing the islands, in an hour we came abreast of Taboga — to Panamd, what Capri is to Naples, but more beautiful. Oranges and tamarinds fringe the beach ; the glass-green foliage of cocoa and banana trees sweep from the valley up. the hillsides a thousand feet. Then we sailed down past Bona and Otoque, rounded Punta Mala, some ninety miles southward from our anchorage, and were fairly out at sea, with the warm bay of Panamd,, and its quaint, old, dreary town, wakened once a century
