Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1849-12-13

canoe, (lol tLcy mus always be PAID IN
ad vance) viii h was tie case with some Of
our passengers.
You will probably remember what my
opinion was concerning The use of firearms,
&C., previous TO leaving home since then
and since have had The opportunity Of see
ing for myself, my notions have changed,
and would advise all persons coming hilh-
or to provide themselves with good revol-
yer and knife, ami to wear them constantly +,
and use them, if necessary. while crossing
The Is,hmus. The natives wear their long
knives, and ] have seen them drawn by the
owners Of them three. days befo-ewe ar
rived, there was an American murdered on
the road 10y native. From all Of which
facts you may infer that these people ~are
not so inoileIrsi,e as has been represented.
However, they are not TO be feared, if one
has good revolver, for they s,ard in NOR
tai dread OF firearms.
The road from Cruces 70 Panama is de-
cidedIy the most striking feature O. this
part Of the country. 1t is nothing but q
succession Of mountain gorges, deep raw.
ines, gullcs and di,ches. Two hundred
years ago il was paved by The Buccaneers +,
but now little remains Of that work excep,
some broken and irregular fragments, and
! if Ga John Bunyan could have seen il as
il now exists, he would not have been OBJ
liged TO draw so largely upon his imagna-
ton Tor A" sloughs Of despond" and "va!-
leys OF despair" which here are known to
be real and present. On our way from
Cruces We passed no less than six mules
and horses, some Of them dead, and others
just gasplrg on. the last ago MES of life,-
perishins from mere exhaustion. In ono
OF the passes, deep Gu, in the very rock,
and wide enough for only mule or horse
TO pass, and which are so very frequent,
We came sudd My upon the body of horse
which had fallen there and been left 10 die.
II wa. impossible to ride over or remove him,
and it became necessary, in order 10 avoid
him, to turn The whole file and pass out by
a circui'ous road Of perhaps quarter Of
mile, in mud up to the saddle-glr lis. No
accounts that you have seen at home have
told hall the story, and the wonder is that
more people do not get used up in coming
through.
Going up the Cbagres river, | made ii
point TO hail every canoe that was pass
ing down with passengers. berg anxious
to pet The statements ofthose whom knew
10 be direc, from the Dlgeings (; | asked
them all pretty nearly the same questions;
in regard to the proba iitics Of bushes.
aud quantities Of gold, their npinons differ
ed idely. Some spoke very encouraging
ly, and others to lhe contrary but ihcy
all agreed as 10 the state of the road, an
| tod us that we would see the first ,usk Of
the Elpphan, between Cruces and Parama.
| Whatever others may have seen, am quite
sure that have not been favored with
sight of him yet aud # the future Difficult
| ties | sla have TO sulmount afford me as
much pleasure as crossing the lstHmus has
done, fear never shall be. 1t is great
mistake TO bring 70 much baggage as | did.
| The bill Of expense is tremendously ircrcas-
ed by so doing. and # ! had to perform
the Journey again, one or tHc waterproof
bags would constitute all my baggage.-
They should be waterproof because the
road is several times crossed by the Streams
into which the mules sink up to their sad
dle-girths, and tie packs are consequently
damaged /; but fpeople mus, bring trunks,
as the majority do, they ought TO e the
very best that can be Obtained invariably
leather. My own have suffered, assure
| you, and would not be able TO respond TO
the reqnisition to 20 back again, should !
i DIS re it,-bu, thank Heaven, do not.
am here in Panama, but the Lord only
knows when shal get out Of it. There
are about one thousand persons liz this city,
not one half Of whom are provided with
tickets for passage to San Francisco
The steamer Oregon, now here, was 10
| have sailed on the lst, but has been oblig-
ed to lay by to repair her engine, and will
not sail, probably, until The 10Th. Cabin
tickets in her are selling at 500 each, and
Steerage ditto at S400. This Is true, for
know man who yesterday paid that price
for Steerage ticket. Resides this steam =
er, there are only two vessels in port the
bark Eliza Ann and small brig. The
former will sail tomorrow with l60 passen-
gers, her tickets were originally sold 'or
Sl50, bu, they now sell readily for $25O.-
came very near paying that price for one,
ard should have done so, but that Captain
Baker advised inc 10 wait until his steam.
er, the Chesapeake touches here, which
will probably no, be later than the 25th.-
There is great deal Of speculation going
on here in this business Of tickets, and it
may be ,ha, before the Oregon leaves, |
shall have an opportunity Of purchasing at
a fair rate The agents of Ilowland a.
Aspinwall here hold almost absolute sway,
and nake themselves very unpopular by the
! spirit in which they act ct,-there is no dlspo-