Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-01-23

below, tne uece1ttul waters abound In |
sharks who actuslly make the sea boil !
in their fierce contests for the Ofai
thrown over board frOm the steamer.
Several steamers belonging 10 lines
which proceed down the coast lie about
us the harbor is full Of small boats, and
oar steamer is literally surrounded with
native dug-0uts, boat made from sim
gle tree, which are loaded with every
varsity OF fruit Indigenous to these tro-
plcal climes. The officers forbid the sale
Of fruit, and beat of, with brickbats
and hunks Of coal hurled without mercy at
the half naked natives when they persist
in offering their wares. Notwftbstand-
ing all the vigilance, much i. sold. Po-
tent is the mighty dollar; the moment
the officer is gone, up comes the cord
from the natives boat, with basket at
tacbed, into which you put your silver,
this being let down, you draw up oranges
lines, pine-apples and bananas, or what
ever fruit you like. Nothing but silver
goes here. Your nickel they toss into
the water, and your script to tho wind.
-Four deaths have already occurred on
board from Panama from fever and the
excessive use Of fruit, and there is con-
siderable sickness. Disease runs its
course here with mighty strides. lis
grasp is terrible. a Jew hours of pain
and burning fever, then the collapse, then
a brief service over the gang plank, and
the spotted corpse plunges to the bot
tom OF the sea. How sad is burial at
sea shall never forget the wall of
mother over beautiful little gil, whom
at sunrise, they consigned tc the dark wa
tiers. a sudden plunge and it was gone,
to come up no more till the sea shall
give up her dead.
Leaving Panama Bay, our routo takes
US south, to within six and one half
degrees of the equator, so that we have
full experience OF the torrid heat. When
there is no breeze it was terribly oppres-
sive. The least exertiOn threw you inte
a profuse pe~piration, and the thinest
clothing was scarcely endurable. do
not wonder at the lazy listiessness of
these torrid elimes. Nature itself pre-
cludes exertion by spontaneous abnnd-
ance Of her fruits; for halt an acre Of un-
titled bannalIas will subsist hundred
men; aud there IT. no limit to the cocoa
nuts, plantaiDs and oranges to be had
for the pluckiDg. We made two stops
between Panama and. San Francisco, at
Acapulco, to coal the steamer, and at
ManzanllO, to discharge freight, which
goes into the interior OF Mexico Both
OF these places have beautiful harbors,
land-lockod and surrounded by noun
tains. Coal at this point costs the Com
pany S25 per ton, having bsen freighted
around Cape Horn. Nearly all the way
up the Pacific we keep in full view Of
the coast, passing points and head-lands
at less than . mile. The whole coast is
one continued range Of volcanic noun
tains, with lofty cones shooting up, some
of them 10000 feet. We saw one or two
volcanoes i'll active operation, long
wreath of smoke extending windward
from their tops. These are the chmneys
through which the internal fires have
vent, the closing Of which necessitates
those terrible earthquakes that so often
! desolate these regions. All our \ orthern
mountains are covered with forests and
clothed with verdure; but for hundreds
and even thousands of miles along the
coast of Mexico. and Lower California
the hills, mountains and shore is one url-
broken waste and desolation-rough vol
c,nic rocks, turrowed by the storm OF
ages, without. one green thing to break
the monotony of barrenness, The idea
Of chaotic desOlation, of utter and inhos-
pitable barrenness, never so impressed my
| imagination as by the view of this burnt
and horrid coast, where no shrub or spear
of grass relieves the arid nakedness. Far
inland, they saw, the valleys Of Mexico
bloom with verdure but here along the
coast, the curse of Gods volcanic fires
has burned up all The surges Of the
Pacihc' dash against the shore, and the
wild sea gull mngles itsrscream with the
i1hospitable roar No other sound is
heard. Now AL we approach Upper
Califel MIA there are indications OF more
hospitable cline. The mountains are
clothed in a sparse verdurs, AMI clumps
of eyeryreens indicate n more genial
soil. n, ill,.,4 gss ssfo.isa ,-r ~. .-r.
I Our whole trip has been a pleasant one
rbating the sea-sickaess at the start, and
| the, heavy pitching in the Caribbean Sea,
that Bay of Biseay of the t. opios. There
is something to divert the attention conT
tinually. The. steamer, itself with its
/ freight of thousand lives, Of every kin
| dred nation and tongue, and of every
grade in society. To feed such com
tlany requires an immense cookery, and
kitchen enginery of no small capacity.
Beeves, sheep, pigs aud fowls are stalled
on beard, aud every day the slaughter
pen reeks with gore, and hundreds of
sea gnlls following the Steamer, scream
and fight over the entrails.' Immense
turtles lie on their backs, awaiting.to be
| made into steaks and soups. Flonr is
kreaded up by the barrel; potatoes boil.
ed in u chaIdron; soup made in a five
4 pailstew pan, and joints and steak float
Hike islands in s2a of grease. The
waitersare a regiment. Nine times a day
the cloth is laid, for We eat in three1 re-
Laws. as to our eookery, the biIli Of fare
reeds magnifcisntiy but woe to the
stomach that ext lores the Kitchen, and
] blessed be the eyes that look not too
closely at what the hand carries to the
mouth. '1i
But we yet live after twenty-five days
on the briny sea, pent mp within the
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