Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/180

 estruction,

should breathe  into  it  a  breatli  of  malignant  perfume, and give  it  over  to  slimy  reptiles  and  ravenous  beasts  ; to panthers,  tigers,  leopards  and  cougars,  to  long  lash- like snakes, and  lazy  alligators,  and  poisonous  ants, and black  stinking  cormorants.

The river  here  is  a  clear,  but  somewhat  shallow stream, about  fifty  yards  wide ;  its  banks  at  first  low and marshy  rise  into  hills  as  you  ascend,  and  roll  off in distant  mountains. Now it  is  full  of  bongos  and canoes coming  and  going,  racing,  knocking  against each other;  and  at  every  turning  of  the  crooked  stream the boatmen's  cries  and  shouts  of  passengers  are  heard cheering as  they  pass. So winding  is  this  river  in  its course that  more  than  fifty  miles  are  traversed  in  order to reach  a  point  thirty  miles  distant.

On they  go,  the  prospective  diggers,  panting  after a sight  of  the  yellow  dross  as  harts  pant  for  water. To them  it  was  nothing  but  the  nakedness  of  God's creation,  all  this  wild,  weird  beauty  about  them,  the glorious quivering  and  play  of  light  and  shadow,  where the black  reflects  the  cliffs  of  eternal  foliage  rising sheer from  its  very  edge. As we  ascend,  though  still tropic, the  river  scenery  becomes  more  subdued,  and the country  in  places  begins  to  look  as  if  cultivation was being  attempted.

At Dos  Hermanos  we  stopped  a  little  before  night for our  supper. Before one  of  the  principal  eating- houses we  found  a  table  spread  in  the  open  air,  covered with a  clean  cloth,  and  attended  by  a  mahogany- colored woman,  bare  to  the  waist,  with  a  white  loose flowered cotton  skirt  trimmed  with  lace,  a  broad- brimmed Panama  hat,  and  a  golden  necklace  adorned with coins. On her  unstockinged  feet  were  a  pair  of yellow  satin  slippers,  and  in  her  mouth  a  long  large cisrar. On the  table  were  red  earthen  jugs  and  odd- shaped dishes  filled  with  tortillas,  dried  meat,  boiled fowl, eggs,  fresh  rolls,  and  coffee.

Scarcely had  we  started  on  our  way  when  night