take a mule trail for Panama — Gorgona and Cruces,
the latter being about six miles from the former; in-
deed, there was a third landing, Obispo, lying between
the other two at a sharp bend in the river. Gorgona
is the head of river navigation for six months of the
year, namely, from November to April, and Cruces
for the other six months. The trails from these differ-
ent points all unite before reaching Panama.
At Gorgona, that is to say the Place of Rocks, we found a bamboo-built hotel with thatched roof and ground floor, the principal room having round the sides rows of grass hammocks hung on a frame-work of upright posts in the form of shelves one over an- other like the steeraofe berths of a steamer. These berths were of sufficient size to accommodate an out- stretched man, and one of them I engaged for the night for one dollar. Evidently the landlord knew how to keep a hotel. After supper I went out to take a survey of the place. The scenery thence is bolder than any I have yet seen on the Isthmus. The town, consisting of about a hundred houses, is built on a high table-land, whence rise hills and moun- tains on every side, covered with drift-like masses of vegetation moved by the meeting winds from two oceans, and forming an amphitheatre through which flows the tortuous stream at my feet. Yonder is the crowning peak of Carabali whence, it is said, both the Atlantic and Pacific may be seen from one spot. Besides the house in which I lodged were five or six ■others, some of them of boards, some of adobe with tiled roofs, and some of reeds, with large signs such as " Union Hotel," '* Hotel Francaise," and the like, kept mostly by Yankee landlords, who appeared to know how to make the most out of the traffic. The carrying trade between here and Panama smacks of Yankee enterprise, as do also the gaming tables where the natives lay down their hard-earned dollars. There were also a few stores, and an abundance of drinking saloons and fandango houses. Night came on apace,
