Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1849-03-07
Beside the great fatigue and danger. the

r expense is enormous The natives vii
not turn round without money. They OF
| ten charged dollar for a cup of coffee
In fact, at every turn it is money, money
do not say that am sorry came; but
r do say that if any one ever gets me owe
this lsthmus again, he will have to b,
very smart.
The only redeemng trail, in the whole
: trip is the scenery. About a mile before
you enter this city. there is nothing bu
beauty on every side. To our right was
nigh. cone-shaped mountain. and back
OF It were other similar ones, while nea,
them were numerous hills--all covered
win trees with their rich green foliage;
ana here and there an old ruin, with trees
inside ct 1t and vines covering it, might
be seen through the trees. On the left
were sloPng hills covered with green grass
and cattle grazing over them; and in the
distance was large white farm house sur.
rounded with corn-felds. In front, we
had III full view various ancient ruins.
the spires Of the churches of Panama.
and the great Pacific. Ia the meantime.
we were winding along through a beauti-
ful grassy plain, and crossing a clear. peb-
bly, bottomed creek. Nothing could be
more beautiful. 1t almost compensa ted
us tor the difficulties and dangers of the
journey. We have, at last. tn ank heaven.
reached this ancient city safe and well.
January 13. You see we are at Pana.
ma yet. and what is more, are likely to be
here for some time. as our ship 1.-THE Cali
fornla has not been heard from since she
LEFT New York. But it is healthy here.
and wo aro
have two rooms with large doors but no
windows; indeed, | have not seen a GLASS
window since left the Mississippi. II
you could peep into one of our rooms. YOU
would think had turned Catholic. Over
one OF the doors is the Virgin Mary in the
act ofprayer, with crown on her head:
over another. is picture of the Virgin
with our Savior in her arms; and in the
centre OF the ceiling there is another of a
similar kind. On book case in one cor.
ner. Is cross with our Saviour on it. but
that is covered with cloth; and when we
Ilrst came. there was a waxen image fthe
Virgin surrounded with flowers under a
glass shade, but that has since been re-
moved from the room. saw a Spanish
funeral yesterday. There were men
playing on violins, flutes, clarionets, gui-
tars, and tamborines, in front. Then fol-
lowed four men carrying the BODY THAT of
an infant on bier covered with scarlet
cloth. That was ALL
January II. | add few lines to this
az Or uu, menus Come tins route TO Cali |
tornia, unless he has good constitution,
a large share of patience and persever-
ance. great deal Of courage-moral and
very full purse These
are absolutely necessary to get along
They have, too. on the Chagres river. a
species of cholera, brought on by expo
sure, drinking the water, and eating the
ruit. We lost ten of our company by
his disease, which generally termin ates
atally in short time-sometimes in
ew hours. In this city it is extremely
warm. J can scarcely realize that it is
At home, you are all muffied
Up in your cloaks and furs or sitting around
l large fire; while here we can hardly
Keep comfortable with the doors wide open
md our summer clothes on lido not like
his climate at all: it is too debiitating.-
We are compelled to stay in the house all
ne time. except early in the morning or
ate in the evening
Your affectionate daughter,
J. NJ. Med.