oth, stuffed with herbs, compounded and muttered over
by some old woman."

MR. BARRAUD. "I have heard that toads at Porto Bello are so
numerous, that it is the popular prejudice that the drops of rain
are changed into toads; and even the more learned maintain that the
eggs of this animal are raised with the vapors from the adjoining
swamps, and being conveyed to the city by the succeeding rains, are
there hatched. They are large and frightful, many of them six inches
in breadth; and after a night of rain, the streets are almost
covered, so that it is impossible to walk any distance without
crushing dozens of them. The city is so badly situated, and the
climate so unhealthy, that few persons can exist there, and it is
justly termed by the Spaniards 'La Sepultura de los Europeanos.'"

CHARLES. "The people of Porto Bello are not particularly dainty. I
am sure I should starve there, for I could not consent to eat their
food. What do you think of shovel-nosed sharks being sold in the
markets, and guanas--which you know are lizards--being considered a
special treat? and then, worse than all, the country folks mostly
feed upon monkeys. How should you fare amongst them, George? Could
you make a dinner off a roasted monkey?"

GEORGE. "I do not think I should enjoy it, but if I were very
hungry, I might not be particular: however, I must own I should even
then prefer beef or mutton to lizards and monkeys."

MR. WILTON. "Panama is, notwithstanding their want of taste, a rich
country; rich in gold, silver, and other mines. Commerce is gaining
ground there, and in the present day the people are more anxious to
make their fortunes than to display their magnificence. Formerly, no
family in Panama ate off anything but plate, almost every domestic
utensil was of the same material, and the women wore a profusion of
chains, pearls, and other ornaments. But times are altered there as
elsewhere; most of the gold has passed through the melting-pot to
the Old World."

MR. BARRAUD. "True; but they have still enough left to make very
grand displays on gala days; and, on these occasions, the dresses of
the women are peculiarly splendid. A loose chemise of beautiful
cambric, with innumerable and immense frills richly worked with
lace, is, with a petticoat of the same, fastened at the waist by
several massive chased-gold buttons. Round the neck are several gold
chains, with pearl rosettes, crosses, and rows of pearls; the
ear-rings are of t