youth and thoroughly imbued with the adventurous
spirit. It must be remembered again, if the reader can think back so far
in his own experience, that youth of that age loves to deck itself out
both physically and mentally in the trappings of romance. Almost every
man wore a red shirt, a slouch hat, a repeating pistol, and a
bowie-knife; and most of them began at once to grow beards. They came
from all parts of the country. The lank Maine Yankee elbowed the tall,
sallow, black-haired Southerner. Social distinctions soon fell away and
were forgotten. No one could tell by speech, manners, or dress whether a
man's former status was lawyer, physician, or roustabout. The days were
spent in excited discussions of matters pertaining to the new country
and the theory and practice of gold-mining. Only two things were said to
be capable of breaking in on this interminable palaver. One was dolphins
and the other the meal-gong. When dolphins appeared, each passenger
promptly rushed to the side of the ship and discharged his revolver in a
fusillade that was usually harmless. Meal time always caught the
majority unawares. They tumbled and jostled down the companionway only
to find that the wise and forethoughtful had preempted every chair.
There was very little quarreling. A holiday spirit seemed to pervade the
crowd. Everybody was more or less elevated in mood and everybody was
imbued with the same spirit of comradeship in adventure.

But with the sight of shore, the low beach, and the round high bluffs
with the castle atop that meant Chagres, this comradeship rather fell
apart. Soon a landing was to be made and transportation across the
Isthmus had to be obtained. Men at once became rivals for prompt
service. Here, for the first time, the owners of the weird
mining-machines already described found themselves at a disadvantage,
while those who carried merely the pick, shovel, and small personal
equipment were enabled to make a flying start. On the beach there was
invariably an immense wrangle over the hiring of boats to go up the
river. These were a sort of dug-out with small decks in the bow and in
the stern, and with low roofs of palmetto leaves amidships. The fare to
Cruces was about fifteen dollars a man. Nobody was in a hurry but the
Americans.

Chagres was a collection of cane huts on level ground, with a swamp at
the back. Men and women clad in a single cotton garment lay about
smoking cigars. Naked and pot-bellied children p