In the Footprints of the Padres

ropped anchor in the mouth of the San Juan River. On our right lay the little Spanish village of San Juan del Norte; its five hundred inhabitants may have been wading through its one st

uito" claim; and, in virtue of certain privileges granted by the "Mosquito" King, the authorities of San Juan del Norte-the port better known in those days as Graytown, albeit 'twas as green as grass-threatened to seize Punta Arenas for public use. Thereupon Graytown was bombarded; but immediately

infinitely smaller. There was but one cabin, and it was rendered insufferably hot by the boilers that were set in the middle of it. There was one flush deck, with an awning stretched above it that extended nearly to the prow of the boat. It was said our passenger list numbered fourteen hundred. The gold boom in

d upon her-and we were among them. Other steamers were to follow as soon as practicable. Hours, even days, passed by, and the passenger

-stools, bundles, and rolls of rugs. The lower deck was two feet above the water. As we looked back upon the Star of the West, waving a glad farewell to the ship that

ughs in the water, and rose, a wall of verdure, far above our smokestacks. As we ascended the stream the forest deepened; the trees grew taller and taller; wide-spreading branches hung over us; gigantic vines clambered everywhere and ma

forget the excitement occasioned by the discovery of our first alligator! Not the ancient and honorable crocodile of the Nile was ever greeted with greater enthusi

the trees by the river side; they called to us and beckoned us shoreward; they cried to us, they laughed at us; they reached out their bony arms, and stretched wide their slim, cold hands to us, as if they would pluck us as we passed. We exc

metimes the magnificent macaw flew over us, with its scarlet plumage flickering like flame. Oh, but t

-logged bouquets. There were sand-bars in the river, and upon these we sometimes ran, and were brought to a sudden stand-still

ourselves apparently land-locked in the depths of a wilderness which might well be called prodigious. Now it was evident that we were heading for the shore, and with a purpose, too. As we drew nearer, we saw among the deep tangle of leaves and vines a primitive landing. It was a li

haunted the forest and lay in wait for them. Every biting and stinging thing was there. The mosquitoes nearly devoured us, especially at night; while serpents, scorpions, centipedes, possessed the jungle. There also was the lair of larger game. It is said that sharks will pick a white man out of a crowd of dark ones in the sea; not that h

y; for it seemed an age since last we had set foot to earth. Our freight was pulled up the Rapids in bongas (row-boats),

most alarming prices. There was no coin in circulation smaller than a dime. Everything salable was worth a dime, or two or three, to the seller. It didn't seem to make much difference what price

roken. Bananas, mangoes, guavas, sugar-cane,-on these we fed; and drank the cream of the young cocoanut, goat's milk, and the juices of various luscious fruits served in carven gourds,-delectable indeed, but the nature of

r its fountain-head, Lake Nicaragua. Upon a height above the river stood a military post, El Castillo, much fallen to decay. Here were other rapid

gage and crowded with recumbent forms. A few fortunate voyagers-men of wisdom and experience-were provided with comfortable hammocks; and while most of u

e wooding stations, the flames of which painted the foliage extraordinary colors and spangled it with sparks. Great flocks of unfamiliar birds flew over us, their brilliant plumage taking a deeper dye as they flashed their wings in the firelight. The chattering monkeys skirmished among the

river; these also were nearly nude, but with the picturesque nudeness that served only to set off the ornaments with which they had adorned themselves-necklaces of shells, wristlets and armlets of bright me

the green spaces of the wood; but of all we had seen or heard or felt or dreamed of, none has left an impression so vivid, so inspiring, so instinct with the beauty and the poetr