Having waited long for an opportunity to leave Cozumel Island for British Honduras, we decided to go on the Triunfo notwithstanding its uninviting appearance. It was a twelve-ton schooner, badly in need of paint; as for order, the limited space made that impossible. The captain, called Antonio, was as unclean a specimen of the Spanish sailor as we have ever had the misfortune to see. The mate was "Antonio the Second," to distinguish him from his superior; black "Jim" was cook and general assistant; a man named Trejo serving as pilot. There was no compass on board. Such a thing can rarely be found on those coasting vessels.
There were four passengers besides ourselves, all of us having plenty of luggage. Add to this twenty-five enormous turtles; some on deck, some below; a large party of hens; two big cages full of doves; another of canaries; a spoiled lapdog; cat and kittens; two goats; and a colony of cockroaches of the
- ↑ Published in "New York Tribune."
