s a sailor,
and, for a buccaneer, most prudent. Ordering his men aboard, he sailed
for the Chagres River, where, three days later, he arrived. He stood in
towards the river's mouth; but the guns of the castle opened on him,
making that anchorage impossible. But about a league from the castle
there is a small bay, and here Captain Brodely brought his ships to
anchor, and sent his men to their blankets, warning them to stand by for
an early call.

[Illustration: CHAGRES
CIRCA 1739]

The castle of San Lorenzo, which guarded the Chagres River's mouth, was
built on the right bank of that river, on a high hill of great
steepness. The hill has two peaks, with a sort of natural ditch some
thirty feet in depth between them. The castle was built upon the seaward
peak, and a narrow drawbridge crossed the gully to the other summit,
which was barren and open to the sight. The river swept round the
northern side of the hill with considerable force. To the south the hill
was precipitous, and of such "infinite asperity," that no man could
climb it. To the east was the bridged gully connecting the garrison with
the isthmus. To the west, in a crook of the land, was the little port of
Chagres, where ships might anchor in seven or eight fathoms, "being very
fit for small vessels." Not far from the foot of the hill, facing the
river's mouth, there was a battery of eight great guns commanding the
approach. A little way beneath were two more batteries, each with six
great guns, to supplement the one above. A path led from these lower
batteries to the protected harbour. A steep flight of stairs, "hewed out
of the rock," allowed the soldiers to pass from the water to the summit
of the castle. The defences at the top of the hill were reinforced with
palisadoes. The keep, or inner castle, was hedged about with a double
fence of plank--the fences being six or seven feet apart, and the
interstices filled in with earth, like gabions. On one side of the
castle were the storesheds for merchandise and ammunition. On the other,
and within the palisadoes everywhere, were soldiers' huts, built of mud
and wattle, thatched with palm leaves, "after the manner of the
Indians." Lastly, as a sort of outer defence, a great submerged rock
prevented boats from coming too near the seaward side.

Early in the morning Captain Bradly turned his hands up by the
boatswain's pipe, and bade them breakfast off their beef and parched
corn. Maize and charqui were pac