From New Orleans to San Fransisco in '49 [pp. 189-205]

From Newz Orleans to Szanz Fraznctsco in'49.
owing to the heat and mosquitoes, we
did not succeed in getting much sleep.
We did not get away from Chagres
until afternoon of the next day. There
were two negro boatmen to each of the
canoes. The canoes were long but rather
narrow. They were covered for about
two thirds of their length with palm
leaves, fastened in some manner to bows,
like the bows of a wagon cover. This
covering was to shelter from both the
rain and the sun. The canoe in which
father, mother, and the baby, were to
travel was loaded principally with bedding, and arranged as comfortably as possible for father's sake. My brother and
the rest of us children were in the canoe
that was loaded with trunks and boxes
of clothing; and old Duncan, with the
provisions and tools, occupied the third.
On top of the trunks in our canoe was a
feather-bed, and on this we had to sit or
lie, whichever we chose, until we reached
Gorgona. The bed was so near the covering of the canoe that, although we
were very small children, we could not
sit upright; and it was so terribly hot
that when we lay down the bed seemed
fairly to scorch us. We were glad when
a shower of rain came up, as it cooled
the atmosphere for the time being; but
as soon as the shower had passed, the
sun shone with even more than his accustomed fervency. None of us were
well, so we complained and fretted, while
brother tried to comfort us. He diverted
our attention from ourselves by pointing
out different objects on the banks of the
river.
And indeed, there was enough to look
at; for both sides of the river were lined
with strange trees, underneath which
was a perfect jungle of plants. Lovely
flowering vines hung in festoons from
one tree to another. Gorgeously plumed
birds flitted from bough to bough. Many
of the trees were laden with troops of
noisy, chattering monkeys. Occasionally we would see an alligator sunning
himself on some half-submerged log;
and whenever we passed an open place
on the bank of the river it was sure to
be occupied by huge lizards and snakes,
basking in the tropical sunshine. Al though these sights were new and
strange to us, they could not long di vert our minds from our discomforts.
We had not seen the canoe with our
parents since leaving Chagres; and now,
as nightfall was approaching, we began
to fear that some misfortune had befallen them. We could not understand a
word of what the boatmen were saying,
but from their movements and gestures
we knew that they were on the lookout
for some place to moor the canoe. We
had been told before leaving Chagres
that we could not go ashore for the
night, as the jungle on both sides of
the river was full of tigers and reptiles,
so we knew that we should have to pass
the night on the boat. The boatmen at
length found a place to suit them, and
one of them jumped out, fastened the
line that he had to a tree. and waded
back to the canoe.
With the night came myriads of
mosquitoes. We had taken off our
shoes and stockings during the day to
cool our feet; and now, though it
seemed scarcely cooler, we were glad
to put them on again to protect our feet
from the venomous insects. Our shoes
seemed to be the only protection that
we had, for the ravenous creatures did
not seem to experience the slightest
difficulty in biting through our clothing. The negroes must have been related to the pachyderms, for though
they were destitute of clothing, with
the exception of their breech-cloths,
they lay down in the bow of the canoe
and in a few minutes were sleeping
soundly. The night was very dark,
and strange sounds were heard in every
direction. Shrieks, growls, and murmurs, filled the air, and we were very
much afraid. Our chief anxiety was
for our parents, whose canoe did not
come up with us that night. We could
1892 l
195