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commission was put on me. The captain hired six Indians and a long canoe to row me up the river. (Here, also several pages are missing. He cut them out and burned them shortly before he died.)
The next day we ran on to Chagresca. It looks about like Portobello, only not so dilapidated. Here there is more inland trade as a little river is navigable ten miles inland. Through that goes all the trade from Panama. Before, the trade went overland to Portobello. We went up there with our boat, as we had to bring some flour and soap for Panama.
One always walks with his life in his hands, and has to be very careful not to offend the Spaniards. They do not mind to kill a man any more than a snake. They always have their long knives ready to stab you.
From Chagresca we sailed to St. Bias to get coconuts to bring home. St Bias is a lot of small islands overgrown with coconut trees. Some Indians live there in the dry season, but in the rainy season they live in the country, where they also have dwellings. These Indians are very stubborn, and the Spaniards have never been able to conquer them. They permit no one to gather coconuts off their island. About a year before this they killed sixteen Spaniards who had come over to get nuts. Their skeletons are still lying bleaching on one of the islands.
They are not so handsome as the Mosquito Indians, but are much more cleanly (sic) and honest - they never steal. They are very jealous of their wives. But the wives have a better time than the Mosquito wives. They do nothing but the cooking. The rest of the time they sit with a mirror in one hand and paint their faces red and yellow. I was among them a great deal the next time I came and I never saw them engaged in any religious ceremonies.
One of them, John Bull, seemed to be the leader. He would sit for long hours and speak with astonishing rapidity. The rest would listen very devoutly. One of them who could speak English, and who later went with us to America, told us it was only about the coconuts they should gather before we came back that he was speaking.
They had no names other than the ones the sailors gave them. If you asked one his name he always answered "Pennigoa Baica" which means "Indian". The one we brought home, who later was baptized in Baltimore, said he had no other name than Peter.
We rowed up into the continent on a small river called "Luga" to get drinking water. Both sides were covered with plantain plantations. I never saw so many parrots and pepper birds. Here also were a great many doves with white heads and tails. When we got the water we commissioned John Bull to have ready for us a load of coconuts for the later (sic) part of September, when we should come for them.
Next we went to a small wooded island named St. Andrews. A good many Englishmen lived there, but it belongs to Columbia. We stayed there one day, and then proceeded to Old Province, a larger island to the west. All kinds of tropical fruits grow wild there in great abundance.
We went ashore to pick some, I climbed up a tree of Alligator pears, but before I got any I discovered a large wasp's nest. Before I could get down one stung me on the hand. It hurt so badly that, to keep from being stung again, I
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