The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-03-07

ing it with might and main at either
 end and you are hauled across somehow
 and your luggage pitched after you,-
 unless, as not unfrequently happens, the latter drops into the sea.
 These big English steamers are three stOried affairs, and the lower deck, into
 which you are ushered from the tender
 is far from prepossessing at first sight. l 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 Chilian deckhands, who
 look as if they would cheerfully slaugh- ter us instead of the cattle. So per fectly do they impers0nate ones idea of pirates as gained from opera-choruses, that one expects to hear them burst out into singing la Pirates of Penzance. ' Nro does the semblance to well-re- membered Opera-scenes end with these lower regions. Ascending ladder like stairway, you find that the "Sereno''
 and I'll. M. s. Pinafore' are as alike in
 many respects as two peas in a pod. There may not be any Dick Deadeyes
 nor Little Buttercups on board, but Ralph Rickstraws abound and the gall lant captain is as typical Briton as was never, never sick at sea-" while
 on all sides one hears a great deal of self-congratuIation that, in spite of all temptations to the contrary, everybody remains an Englishman."
 The "Sereno" is by no means the 6nac+ t,f ba of bo oldest; but it is quite good enough for
 anybody, with it's blaze of electric lights, immense saloon, wide cabins all opening outward on the second deck,
 and the whole awning-shaded third sto- ry given over to the passengers for lounging and amusenents.
 To the last moment that the vessel waits for the turn of the tide she is
 surrounded by a swarm of canoes and pit-paXs bringing from the adjacent shores cargoes of tropical fruit, mon-
 keys, 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, it's cottage roofs, flat and red-tilled, or very steep and matched with straw, all over-shadoWed by feathery palms or half-hidden behind giant banana trees. It seems 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 Hay" of the isthmus well in mind, you will see that
 the Panama railway, instead of west
 ward-ho-ing from Colon, as the pas
 sengers imagine. runs southeast. The
 port of Guayaquil on the Pacific side of Ecuador-the very westernmost town in all South America, lies in direct line from Washington, D. C.. near the At lantic coast. If you don't believe it,
 consult a map!
 We crossed the equatorial line in the
 night, soon after leaving the coast of Colombia; and, contrary to all expecta- tions, the weather grew perceptiby 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 be- yond sight of land, the blue and placid
 waters of the Pacific filling the horizon 1 on all sides but sometimes to the east
 ward, when the mists of morning are
 dispelled and before the evening shaw
 ows fall, the lofty Cordilleras that form the northernmost spur of the Andes, suddenly stand out in full view, in all rlnrv Cr1olxo iccItiYo from tho tops of some of them tells that we are
 fast approaching the region of volca-
 noes and earthquakes. On the third day something that looks like a colos-
 sal corpse floating on the water is dimly visible through the yellow haze and cu-
 rious passengers are informed that the apparition is Isla del Muerto Dead Mans Island), which marks the en-
 trance to the Gulf of Guayaquil, In or
 der 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, it's proximity is announced by a com
 plete change of odors, the salty and ! fishy smells of the sea being overpow- cred by mixture of malarial dampness and vegetable decay, combined with the | fragrance of tropical fruits and flowers. l Presently we pass Gorgona island, fa-
 nous as the site of Pizarro's desperate
 deed of devotion; and the Cape of En-
 eralds, at the mouth of the Guayaqul
 river, where he first set foot on South
 American soil. From this point the
 towering summits of Cotopaxi and
 Chimborozo are plainly seen in their
 snow-shrouded majesty. To the left
 lies Puma island, where Pizarro bore up
 so long against open foes and treacher-
 ous friends; and where he organized
 the small but desperate force which
 subdued the richest and most powerful
 of Americas ancient empires.
 The Gulf of Guayaquil is very large,
 but it's channel is narrow and torturous
 At times we seem close to the low, sli-
 my shores which are lined with man.
 grove trees. among whose gnarled roots
 hugh water-snakes and alligators find
 congenial homes; while farther out
 sharks watch for prey and porpoises
 show their shining black sides in un~ couth gambols. That land-lubber sci
 enlist who is continually asserting in
 print that it is all an ignorant mistake
 about the flesh eating propensties of
 sharks, ought to pursue his observa-
 tions here. The sailors delight in spin ming yarns to the passengers about per