The railroad was five years
in being built, under almost unheard-of difficulties; and any person
going over it might learn to appreciate some of them, after seeing the
rich, tangled, luxuriant vegetation in the low, wet grounds. How I
longed to know the names of the beautiful flowers fringing the road; but
no one could tell me. First we passed through a swamp of purple and
white azaleas; then one of snowy callas; then near a bank hidden from
view by heavy morning-glory vines in bloom, still dripping with dew. We
saw a great many specimens of what I was told was the "long palm;" it
looked to me like a kind of brake or fern, with drooping branches twenty
feet in length. There were trees with hardly a leaf; but each branch
and twig crowned with orange-yellow blossoms. Again we would see a tree
covered with feathery, purple flowers. Along some parts of the way, was
a profusion of "Indian shot," so called, I suppose, because the seeds
are black, hard, and round, looking like large shot. Here and there
drooped a vine with brilliant scarlet blossoms. Once in a while we would
see the deep green of the orange-tree, or the lighter foliage of the
lemon, and finally a banana-tree, with its bunch of fruit, gladdened my
eyes. There were many trees with parasitic plants growing on them,
looking as if ropes were hanging from them. It is said that if one of
these groves of ferns on the Isthmus is cut down, in three months the
vegetation has grown so rapidly as to look as if no human hand had ever
interfered with them. One wanted several pairs of eyes to take in all
the beauty of the scene.

[Illustration: PANAMA VEGETATION.--Page 22.]

There were various way-stations upon the railroad, having neat white
houses, with a piazza upon both stories. Before and around some of them
are pretty gardens, with bright flowers, conspicuous among them being
our fragrant roses, such as rarely bloom with us except in green-houses.
We passed many native huts grouped in small villages, with their
inhabitants sitting in the doorway or lounging about the premises, the
children running round half naked or entirely so. Most of these people
are freed Jamaica slaves. They seemed to be a happy but indolent race.
Fruits grow about them with such prodigality as to require but little
exertion to obtain the necessities of life. Their huts are made of
bamboo rods, thatched with palm-leaves.

But there is the tea-bell.

III.

Panama.

"Come, come, aunt