the " True Half-way House " kept by Europeans or
Americans. Tea and coffee were plentiful along the
route, but milk was scarce. The water of the Isth-
mus, for drinking purposes, early acquired a bad name ;
its effects were said to be extremely deleterious, espe-
cially on Europeans, The distaste, thus or other-
wise arising for this fluid, so fastened itself on many
of the pilgrims that it never afterward left them ; for
on arriving in California they seemed to prefer strych-
inne whiskey even to the melted snow of the Sierra.
As a matter of fact, water, and nothing else, taken
sparingly will carry one through fatigue and inhospit-
able climates better than any stimulant. In crossing
the Isthmus thousands have killed themselves, or
planted the seeds of disease, under the excuse that
water was pernicious.
In ancient times there was a trail from Panama to Cruces, paved with large round stones from six to eighteen inches in diameter. In places it was three feet wide. It overlaid all the softer ground, and con- nected with the rocky defiles and hillside shelves, where it frequently narrowed to a foot in width. Near Pa- nama it widened yet more and was kept in tolerable repair, but the upper end was dilapidated and almost useless, being washed away by flood, or cut under or broken sheer asunder by torrents, so as to leave it in pieces high above the sunken bottom of a ravine. Over these disordered heaps of smooth stones mingled with soft deep mud, the poor heavily laden mule was obliged to stumble, and the wonder was how he ever got through at all. Though not as comely as the beau- tiful beasts of Europe, these mules, with their limbs of steel, show a more marvellous dexterity, risking their feet with confidence, as if by instinct or memory, in dangerous places. There is no necessity for direct- ing the animal you ride ; give him his head and let him go, and when you get to Panamjl get off and give him the bridle ; the master is not far away. The Gor- gona trail strikes the ancient road some seven or eigln
