ir baggage, so as to defraud the government of the
duties.

A short time before we arrived at Chagres one of them, who had an
English negro servant, ordered him to tell Captain Murray that he could
put some of his goods amongst their baggage if he wanted to smuggle them
on shore through the custom house, as their baggage was considered
sacred, and that no custom house officer dare to examine it. Being well
acquainted with the tricks of these Spanish officers, I prevailed on
Murray not to trust them, telling him this was only a trick to cheat him
out of his goods, as I had heard, from good authority, of a number of
tricks of this kind which had been practised by the collector of Porto
Bello and other ports on the Main.

We landed our passengers and remained some days at Chagres, where we
sold some goods and then returned to Porto Bello. We purchased some
fustic and other articles, and proceeded to the coast of St. Blas,
touching at a number of small harbors, where we bought fustic in small
quantities. While laying in the mouth of one of these narrow rivers,
called Nombre Dios, (name of God,) I found by inquiry that I was only
about thirty miles from the residence of one of my old traders, named
Campbell, who had visited New-York with me in the Schooner Price, and
was there when General Jackson made his first visit to that city. I told
Captain Murray that I should feel much pleased to visit Campbell, and I
would willingly assist to paddle a canoe thirty miles to see any honest
friend. This pleased him much, as he wanted an introduction to the trade
on that coast. The next morning we fitted out our canoe, by putting a
dinner-pot, fire-works, and some provisions, and a large jug, containing
two or three gallons of gin, on board, to treat my Indian friends on my
arrival among them. We were now well prepared for the trip, having
plenty to eat and drink. If the winds or weather detained us on the
passage we could go on shore, haul up our canoe, build a fire, cook our
provision and then lay down on the ground and get a comfortable sleep,
by keeping a kind of watch amongst ourselves to prevent the fire from
going out, that being our only protection from tigers, panthers, and
other wild beasts, who will never approach a fire. They are very
numerous on this coast. I tried this experiment many years successfully.

We left the schooner early in the morning and proceeded more than one
half of our journey, when a strong breeze of he