The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1903-03-12

lOHASNIN iOT IL ulQ so much tor Words
not express how severely suffered
~ any doubt the above statement let them
address me: and will take great pleasure in
DR.. Pierces Pleasant Pellets cleanse the
bowels and stimulate the sluggish liver.
These big English steamers are three
stored affairs; and the lower deck. into
which you are uShered from the tender.
is far from prepoSsessing at first sight
There are long lines of stalled sheep
and cattle, most of them TO be slaugh
tered for food during the voyage, and
groups of saddle colored, frouzy- headed
Peruvian and Gillian deck hands, who
look as if they would cheerfully slaugh-
ter us instead OF the cattle So perfect
| ly do they impersonate ones idea of
pirates as gained from opera-choruses,
that one expects to hear them burst out
into singing la pirates of Penzance
| Nor does the resemblance to well-re-
membered opera scenes end with these
lower regions. Ascending ladder-like
stairway, you find that the Serene"
and III. NJ. S Pinafore'' are as alike in
many respects as two peas in pod
There may not be any Dick Deadeyes
or Little Buttercups on board, but
Ralph Rackstraws abound, and the gal
liant captain is as typical Briton as
was never, never sick at sea, While on
all sides one hears a great deal of self
congratulation that, il spite of all temp
tations to the contrary, everybody re
mains an Englishman.'
The ''Sereno" is by no means the
finest ship of the line, being enc of the
Oldest but it is quite good enough for
anybody, with its blaze of electric
lights immense saloon, wide cabins all
opening outward on the second deck,
and the whole awning shaded third
deck given over to the passengers for
| lounging and amusements.
| To the last moment that the veSSeI
waits for the turn of the tide she is
surrounded by a swarm of canoes and
pit-paws, bringing from the adjacent
/ shores cargoes of tropical fruit, monk
! eys. paroquets, carved gourds, what
| not; some for sale on the spot to who
ever will buy, but mostly to be loaded
| below for transportation to other points
| Not far from the anchorage place is the
small island of Tobago, with pleasant
looking village upon it, its cottage -roots,
flat and red tiled, or very steep and
matched with straw, all over-shadowed
by feathery palms or half hidden be-
hind giant banana trees. 1t seems a
paradoxical statement, but it is never
the-less true, that Colon, on the eastern
side of the Isthmus, is really farther
west than Panama city on the Pacific
coast. Getting the ''lay sof the Isthmus
well in mind, you will see that the Pana-
ma railway, instead of westward hoing
from Colon, as the passengers imagine,
runs southeast. The port of Guayaquil
on the Pacific side of Ecuador-the very
| westernmost town in all South America
lies in a direct line from Washington,
D. c., near the Atlantic coast. If you
don't believe it, consult map.
We crossed the equatorial line in the
night, soon after leaving the coast of
Colombia, and contrary to all expecta-
tons the weather grew perceptably
cooler, instead of giving us increased
heat. The steamer reaches Guayaquil
| on the fourth day out from Panama
During most of those days we were
| beyond sight of land, the blue and
placid waters of the Pacific filling the
horizon on all sides; but sometimes to
the eastward, when the mists of morn
ing are dispeled and before the evening
shadows fall, the lofty Cordilleras that
form the northernmost spur of the
Andes suddenly stand out in full view
in all their glory. Smoke issuing from
the tops of some of them tells that we
are fast approaching the region of vol
canoes and earthquakes. On the third
day, something that looks like colos-
sal corpse floating on the wateri is dimly
visible through the yellow haze, and
curious passengers are informed that
the apparition is Isla del Muerto Dead
Mans Island), which marks the en-
trance to the Gulf of Guayaquil. In
order to make for the port of Ecuador
the steamers course is now sharply
turned due east, and though the main
land is not discernable through the fog,
its proximity is announced by a COM
plete change of odors, the salty and
fshy smells of the sea being overpower-
ed by a mixture of malarial dampness
and vegetable decay, combined with the
fragrance of tropical fruits and flowers.
Presently we pass Gorgona island,
famous as the site of Pizarro's desper-
ate deed Of devotion; and the Cape of
i ~ tho ,aao.ath oE Tho e