,--bananas, granadas, oranges, and
limes. We had our chocolate and eggs ordered; but just at that moment,
boom! went our ship's cannon to recall us, so we had to go back without
our breakfast; but we took some beautiful flowers and a few shells. The
forts had been bombarded by the French about a month before, but looked
as if they were little injured. The harbor is small, but one of the
finest on the whole Pacific coast. The native boys swam out to the ship,
and would dive for silver coin thrown to them. It was astonishing to see
how far down in the water they would go for it, and almost invariably
get it. Then they would put it in their mouths, and be ready for
another. One boy, the quickest of the lot, must have had a dozen pieces
in his mouth at one time.

A shark and a devil-fish came near the ship--

"A _devil-fish!_" the children all exclaimed; "_why_, what sort of a
fish is that?"

It is very large, having a pointed head with projecting fins of great
breadth, triangular and resembling wings, making the fish broader than
it is long, even including the tail. The encyclopaedia says one was
caught in the Atlantic, off Delaware Bay, in 1823, which was so heavy as
to require three pairs of oxen, a horse, and several men to drag it
ashore. It weighed about five tons, and measured seventeen and a quarter
feet long, and eighteen feet broad; the skin was blackish-brown, and
underneath, black and white; its mouth was two feet nine inches wide,
and the skull five feet. One was captured in the harbor of Kingston on
the island of Jamaica, which had strength enough to drag three or four
boats fastened together at the rate of four miles an hour. The mouth of
this one was four and a half feet wide, and three feet deep, large
enough to contain the body of a man.

The day after we left Acapulco was the Sabbath, and we had service in
the saloon in the morning, which made it seem quite like a home
Sabbath, and many were delighted to have a "real Sunday." A table was
covered with an American flag; this was the pulpit. The Bible was laid
on it, and grandpa preached. We sat around on the saloon sofas. The
captain could not attend, as we were nearing the town of Manzanilla.
Just as the sermon was finished, we stopped before that picturesque
village. I believe the town proper is inland. The few houses on the
shore looked very neat, being white-washed, making a very pretty
contrast with the deep green of the lofty hills beyond.

Afte