is performed in canoes, propelled up the stream by means of poles.
There are two points at which one may land, viz: the villages of
Gorgona and Cruces. The distance from Chagres to the first named, is
about 45 or 50 miles--to the latter, some 50 or 55 miles. The traveler,
who for the first time in his life embarks on a South American river
like the Chagres, cannot fail to experience a singular depression of
spirits at the dark and sombre aspect of the scene. In the first place,
he finds himself in a canoe, so small that he is forced to lay quietly
in the very centre of the stern portion, in order to prevent it
upsetting. The palm leaf thatch (or _toldo_, as it is termed on the
river) over his portion of the boat, shuts out much of the view, while
his baggage, piled carefully amidships, and covered with oil cloths,
_encerrados_ as they are termed, is under the charge of his active
boatman, who, stripped to the buff, with long pole in hand, expertly
propels the boat up stream, with many a cry and strange exclamation.
The river itself is a dark, muddy, and rapid stream; in some parts
quite narrow, and again at other points it is from 300 to 500 yards
wide. Let no one fancy that it resembles the bright and cheerful rivers
which are met with here at the North. No pleasant villages adorn its
banks--no signs of civilization are seen on them, nothing but the
sombre primeval forest, which grows with all the luxury of the tropics
down to the very margin of its swampy banks.
A light canoe with two active boatmen and but one passenger in it, will
reach Cruces in ten or twelve hours, whilst a heavier one might require
thirty-six hours to accomplish the passage. The passenger must take his
provisions with him, as none are to be had on the river.
A doubloon ($16) was the lowest charge for a single passenger, and from
that up to two, three, and even four doubloons. As for taking our boats
from here, and rowing them up the river, I should think it would be a
hopeless attempt. Hardy boatmen from our southwestern States, who are
accustomed to a much similar mode of travel on their rivers, would
probably be able to accomplish it; but in that burning and unhealthy
climate, for young men fresh from the North, unacquainted with the
dangers of such navigation, and all unacclimated, to attempt such a
feat would be madness indeed.
Let us, however, suppose the journey completed, and our adventurer
safely arrived at