Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1849-04-19

Z, walls left to mark the spot where they stood.
This place, as near as / can learn, is about
$50 years old, and should not think that a
new house had been erected for the last
century and a half, and, with the exceptions
Of the houses occupied by the American,
! English and French Consuls, not a single
repair made The sidewalk in front Of the
residence ofthe English Consul is now beirg
repaired by number of prisoners, and all the
gravel used is brought from about two miles
out of the city, on the backs Of prisoners, in
bags holding about half peck each. The
prisoners are chained together and guarded by
soldiers. Soldiers did l say! They Me
called soldiers, but "sogrs" would be much
more appropriate name for such scaly look
ing set Of black and barefoot rangers. One
hundred American soldiers could scare a regi-
ment of these fellows to- death simply by look
ing at them, have no doubt; you can readily
imagine the length of time it would require
/ to convey any considerable amount Of gravel
or stones the distance oftwo miles, providing
| you had fifty men at work, and each man car
ried halfa peck. This is characteristic Of
the manner in which business Of all sorts is
carried on here, by the natives. | have not
seen vehicle ofany sort, not so much as a
wheel barrow, since my arrival on the 18th
nus. Transportation about this place, and
between here. and Gorgona and Cruces is car
red altogether on the backs Of men {" pey-
ons') and mules, or rather horses, for the
greater part of the beasts used here are dimin-
u;ivc looking horses.
The road (hcaven save the mark hom
Gorgona to this place, is now in its bes: con-
diton, it is perfecdy dry, and no trouble is.
found in alklng it, except that it is rough
very rough, and consequently very fatigue
ing. This road is nothing more than path
in some places so narrow that two persons
.annot well pass, and it runs over hill and
down dale, winding and twisting in every d.
rec,ion. would not advise person to attempt
to walk over it in the rainy season, for have
no doubt but that it is vey bad then, but at
! this season | would sooner walk than ride
! Since our arrival we have had but one 18TH
mus shower. and that was the day before
we left Chagres, and then it did not rain, Dut
poured it did not last long, however.
From the appearance of things here to-day
| never should suppose it was Sunday, for
business is going on as usual, the soldiers are
marching about the streets, headed by oand
Of music, cock fighting is going on at almost
every corner, and tonight there is TO be a
circus. The religion Of the city is Catholic,
and it is abundantly supplied with churches,
there being no less than six or seven, besides
n cathedral, but these are all going to decay,
as we'll as everything else here; in some Of
these once splendid churches The windows
have all been broken out, and have either
been boarded up, or are now left entirely op-
On.
\ The steamship Oregon, on which | take
| passage for San Francisco, arrived here yes
! terday morning, and will sail in about fifteen
days Her running time from New York to
this place was only about 55 DAYS, which
proves her to be a very fastrvessel. The Eng
lsh steamer Valparaiso, arrived this morning
with about 60 900 in specie on board, which
is now on its way across the Isthmus, on the
backs of about 100 horses and mules. | OBJ
served in the rear of the train guard Of SOL
ders ard was told that such a circumstance
never had occurred before. Perfect confidence
is imposed in the natives, but the great crowd
of Americans here at presen. occasiCned some
alarm to those having this specie in charge,
and henc. the guard.
| There are at present about 1900 persons on
the Is,hnus and, here waiting passage to
| California, and some OF them must wait long
time before they can procure one. Many have
come here supposing that there would be no
trouble in procuring passage in sail vessels,
but there are no sail vessels here. Two OF
three small vessels that came here with coal
have gone up the coast loaded with passen-
gers and Belfast schooner is to sail in a day
n two, crowded full,
n My advice to those going to California by
this route, is, in the first place tn secure a
passage in New York, in the Pacific steamer;
take passage to hagres in sail vessel that
| you are sure will arrive at time when none
of the steamers are there, and about two weeks
before the Pacific steamer sails from this
place,-,h will give you ample time to get
across the Isthmus. Bring as little baggage
as possible, but in no case let it exceed 3oC
lbs, in weight, for the Pacific steamers will moi
take any moro than the above amount for
each passenger bring as much less than 300
bs as possible, for the cost of transportation
from Chagres to this place is from 6 to 10 cts,
per 10. Do not let your packages exceed
100 lbs. in weight and strong trunks, Of me
dium size, are as good as anything else tha,
can be useI TO bring your clothing &c, In In
dia rubber bags do very well, providing they
are put inside a canvass bag they
are liable to get torn. Bring all the money
1 you calculate to spend after your arrival a,
/ il,,t 4 1 La. a. II .