He may now congratulate himself on having achieved the most toilsome
part of his journey, and but twenty-one miles of land route intervene
between him and the glorious Pacific Ocean. Cruces is a small village,
situated on a plain, immediately on the banks of the river, which here
are high and sandy. Gorgona, the other landing place, is a few miles
below Cruces, and is likewise a small village, very similar to
Cruces--in fact, all South American villages resemble one another very
much. From these two points, both about the same distance from Panama,
there are roads to that city, which roads unite about nine miles from
it. Starting from either point he commences his