fell suddenly upon us and the whole heavens were
illuminated. Large fireflies glowed like sapphire in
their vain endeavor to outshine the stars, which
sparkled with almost dazzling brilliancy above them.
Behold here a new heaven and a new earth ! new
constellations above and new fruits and flowers below.
A torch placed in the bow of the boat cast weird
shadows over the disturbed water, and threw into
denser blackness the bordering thickets. Presently
the moon came up from behind the mountains of
verdure ; and while the swarthy forms of the boatmen
marched to their monotonous strains, the tired travel-
ler sat silently with cramped legs, or lay his aching
back upon the heaped up luggage and watched in
dreamy speculation the blazing stars. Passing Ahorca
Lagarto we spent the whole of the following day
toiling up the stream under a burning sun, with occa-
sional showers of rain, the hot glare upon the water
and the steaming rottenness on the land being at
times almost unendurable ; now and then we landed to
rest and eat. The crisp cool morning and evening-
air, laden with sweet odors from the woodlands, was
most refreshing. Part of the next night we laid over
at Barbacoas, a native village with huts of poles and
palm-leaves furnished with a mat to stretch on and a
hammock to loll in, and thick with swarms of naked
children. Before the tramp of gold-seekers awoke
their avarice, centuries came and went, and the dolce
far niente of the natives, like their soft skies and
fragfrance-breathinof forests, was undisturbed. Too
indulgent nature by withholding the necessity re-
moved the incentive to action.
The next day we reached Gorgona, which ended our boating and the first stage of the journey across the Isthmus. Two days and nights were usually oc- cupied in accomplishing this distance, portions of the days being taken for rest and portions of the nights for travel. There were two points on the river where passengers were accustomed to leave their boat and
