Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/173



motion of  the  train,  and  armed  with  a  pitcher  or  pail of iced  water,  the  ride  is  indeed  charming. But at the  time  of  which  I  write  crossing  the  Isthmus  was  a very  different  affair,  as  I  shall  show.

Placed ashore  at  Aspinwall  by  the  ship's  boats  the passengers by  the  Georgia  were  conveyed  on  open platform cars  to  Gatun,  seven  miles  distant,  situated on a  small  stream  of  the  same  name,  near  its  conflu- ence with the  Chagres  river. There an  uproarious scene presented  itself  The  occasion  was  the  hiring of bongos  or  canoes  in  which  to  ascend  the  river. The boating was  done  by  negroes  and  natives  ;  the  patrones, skippers, or  owners  of  the  boats  were  mostly  Creoles, the least  tinge  of  whiteness  in  their  blood  being  suffi- cient to warrant  them  in  asserting  supremacy. The gold-seekers were  here  first  thrown  upon  their  own resources ; here  the  real  battle  began. On shipboard they were  only  so  much  steamship  pabulum ;  the goddess of  liberty  had  shrunk  to  the  dimensions  of  a, captain  of  a  water  craft. Once more  on  shore,  and American manhood  mio;ht  aoain  assert  itself  Of course  attempts  w^ould  be  made  at  cheating,  and  such attempts should  be  resisted  to  the  death. Nothhig quicker marks  the  narrow-minded  and  inexperienced traveller than  a  morbid  fear  of  being  overreached. Shall the  American  eao-le  be  brow-beaten  bv  the turkey -buzzards of  a  nonderscrij^t  No-land  ? Hence _any attempt  at  fancied  imposition  was  blustered  down, and knives  and  pistols  freely  used,  if  necessary,  to  en- force fair dealiiio;.

Seldom did  a  steamer  load  of  passengers  get  started up the  river  without  much  wrangling. Boat-owners were not  slow  to  take  advantao-e  of  their  necessities, and charge  exorbitant  fares ;  or  having  made  a  con- tract they flew  from  it  and  demanded  more. Rascal- ity was rampant ;  and  so  keen  were  the  adventurers to scent  a  swindle  that  they  sometimes  found  a  mare's nest. Many a  pilgrim  here  first  shed  the  crust  of conventionality ;  and  many  another  on  glancing  into