THE LAST OF THE LOG.-TOM CRINGLE'S FAREWELL. "And whether we shall meet again, I know not." LIKE all Portuguese towns, and ables were scarce, there was no most Spanish, Panama does not rea paucity of silver dishes; basins, spitlize the idea which a stranger forms boxes, censers, and utensils of all of it from the first view, as he de- shapes, descriptions, and sizes, of scends from the savannah. The houses this precious metal, were scattered are generally built of wood, and three about without any order or regustory high in the first or ground- larity, while some nameless articles, floor are the shops; in the second, the also of silver, were thrust far out of merchants have their warehouses; their latitude, and shone conspicuand in the third, they usually live ously in the very centre of the rooms. with their families. Those three The floors were usually either of different regions, sorry am I to say hardwood plank, ill kept; or terraced, it, are all very dirty; indeed they or tiled; some indeed were flagged may be said to be the positive, com- with marble, but this was rare; and parative, and superlative degrees of as for the luxury of a carpet, it was uncleanness. There are no glazed utterly unknown, the nearest apsashes in the windows, so that when proach to it being a grass mat, plaitit rains, and the shutters are closed, ed prettily enough, called an estera. you are involved in utter darkness. Round the walls of the house are The furniture is miserably scanty usually hung a lot of dingy-faced, some old-fashioned, high-backed, worm-eaten pictures of saints, and hardwood chairs, with a profusion several crucifixes, which appear to of tarnished gilding; a table or two be held in great veneration. The in the same style, with a long grass streets are paved, but exceedingly hammock slung from corner to cor- indifferent; and the frequent rains, ner, intersecting the room diagon- or rather waterspouts, (and from the ally, which, as they hang very low, position of the place, between the about six inches only from the floor, two vast oceans of the Atlantic and it was not once, that, entering a house Pacific, they have considerably more during the siesta, when the windows than their own share of moisture,) were darkened, I have tumbled head- washing away the soil and sand from long over a Don or Doña, taking his between the stones, render the footor her forenoon nap. But if move-ing for bestias of all kinds extremely VOL. XXXIV. NO. CCXI. K insecure. There are five monasteries of different orders, and a convent of nuns, within the walls, most of which, I believe, are but poorly endowed. All these have handsome churches attached to them; that of La Merced is very splendid. The cathedral is also a fine building, with some good pictures, and several lay relicts of Pizarro, Almagro, and Vasco Nuñez, that riveted my attention; while their fragments of the Vera Cruz, and arrow points that had quivered in the muscles of St Sebastian, were passed by as weak inventions of the enemy. The week after my arrival was a fast, the men eating only once in the twenty-four hours, (as for the women, who the devil can tell how often a woman eats?) and during this period all the houses were stripped of their pictures, lamps, and ornaments, to dress out the churches, which were always beautifully illuminated in the evening, while a succession of friars perform service in them continually. High mass is unquestionably, even in the eye of a heretic, a very splendid ceremony; and the music, even here in this outlandish corner, was very good, every thing considered; in the church of La Merced, especially, they had a very fine organ, and the congregation joined in the Jubilate in good taste enough. By the way, in this same church, on the right of the high altar, there was a deep and lofty recess, covered with a thick black veil, in which stood concealed a figure of our Saviour, as large as life, hanging on a great cross, with the blood flowing from his wounds, and all kinds of horrible accompaniments. At a certain stage of the service, a drum was beaten by one of the brethren, upon which the veil was withdrawn, when the whole congregation prostrated themselves before the image, with every appearance of the greatest devotion. This was not so much to be wondered at; but even the passengers in the streets within ear-shot of the drum, stopped and uncovered themselves, and muttered a prayer; but if they heard it within their houses, they knelt, and crossed themselves, with all the externals of deep humility; although, very probably, they were at the moment calculating in their minds the profits on the last ad venture from Kingston. There is one custom which particularly struck me as being very beautiful. As the night shuts in, after a noisy prelude on all the old pots of the different steeples throughout the city, there is a dead pause; in a second or two the great bell of the cathedral tolls slowly, once or twice, at which every person stops from his employment, whatever that may be, or wherever he may be, uncovers himself, and says a short prayer-all hands remaining still and silent, for a minute or more, when the great bell tolls again, and once more every thing rolls on as usual. On the fourth evening of my residence in Panama, I had retired early to rest. My trusty knave, Peter Mangrove, and, trustier still, my dog Sneezer, had both fallen asleep on the floor, at the foot of my bed, if the piece of machinery on which I lay deserved that name, when in the dead of night I was awakened by a slight noise at the door. I shook myself and listened. Presently it gradually opened, and the old woman that I have already described as being part and portion of Don Hombrecillo Justo's family, entered the room in her usual very scanty dress, with a lighted candle in her hand, and led by a little naked negro child. I was curious to see what she would do, but I was not certain how the dog might relish the intrusion; so I put my hand over my quatre, and snapping my finger and thumb, Sneezer immediately rose and came to my bedside. I immediately judged, from the comical expression of his face, as seen by the taper of the intruder, that he thought it was some piece of fun, for he walked quietly up, and confronting the old lady, deliberately took the candlestick out of her hand. The little black urchin thereupon began shouting," Perro Demonio-Perro Demonio"-and in their struggle to escape, she and the old lady tumbled headlong over the sleeping pilot, whereby the candle was extinguished, and we were left in utter darkness. I had therefore nothing for it but to get out of bed, and go down to the cobbler, who lived in the entresol, to get a light. He had not gone to sleep, and indeed I gave him no small alarm, for he was near absconding at my unsea sonable intrusion, but at length I obtained the object of my visit, and returned to the scene of my alarm, when, on opening the door, I saw poor Mangrove lying on his back in the middle of the floor, with his legs and arms extended, as if he had been on the rack, his eyes set, his mouth open, and every faculty benumbed by fear. At his feet sat the negro child, almost as much terrified as he was, and crying most lamentably; while, at a little distance, sat the spectre of the old woman, scratching its head with the greatest composure, and exclaiming in Spanish, "A little brandy for love of the Holy Virgin." But the most curious part of it was the conduct of our old friend Sneezer. There he was sitting on end upon the table, grinning and shewing his ivory teeth, his eyes of jet sparkling like diamonds with fun and frolic, and evidently laughing after his fashion, like to split himself, as he every now and then gave a large sweeping whisk of his tail, like a cat watching a mouse. At length I got the cobbler and his sable rib to take charge of the wanderers, and once more sank into the "harms of Murphy," as Alderman Wood used to say. On my first arrival, I was somewhat surprised at my Spanish acquaintances always putting up their umbrellas when abroad after nightfall in the streets; the city had its evil customs, it seemed, as well as others of more note, with this disadvantage, that the devil a one had the discretion ever to sing out gardyloo. There was another solemn fast about this time, in honour of a saint having had a tooth drawn, or some such equally important event. Don Hombrecillo and I had been at the evening service in the church of the convent of La Merced, situated, as I have already mentioned, directly opposite his house, on the other side of the lane; and this being over, we were on the eve of returning home, when the flannel-robed superior came up and invited us into the refectory, whereunto, after some palaver, we agreed to adjourn, and there we had a deuced good supper, and some very bad Malaga wine, which, however, seemed to suit the palates of the Frailes, if taking a very decent quantity thereof were any proof of the same. Presently two of the lay-brothers produced their fiddles, and as I was determined not to be outdone, I volunteered a song and, as a key-stone to my politeness, sent to Don Hombrecillo's for the residue of my brandy, which, coming after the bad wine, acted most cordially, opening the hearts of all hands like an oyster-knife, the Superior's especially, who in turn drew on his private treasure also, when out came a large green vitrified earthen pipkin, one of those roundbottomed jars that won't stand on end, but must perforce lie on their sides, as if it had been a type of the predicament in which some of us were to be placed through its agency; ere long the large cork, buried an inch deep by green wax, was withdrawn from the long neck, and out gurgled most capital old Xeres. So we worked away until we were all pretty well fou, and anon we began to dance; and there were half-a-dozen friars, and old Justo and myself, in great glee, jumping and gamboling about, and making fools of ourselves after a very fantastic fashion-the witches in Macbeth as an illustration. At length, after being a month in Panama, and still no appearance of the Bandera, I received a letter from the Admiral, desiring me to rejoin the Wave immediately, as it was then known that the line-of-battle ship had returned to the river Plate. Like most young men, who have hearts of flesh in their bosoms, I had in this short space begun to have my likings-may I not call them friendships?-in this, at the time I write of, most primitive community; and the idea of bidding farewell to it, most likely for ever, sank deep. However, I was his Majesty's officer, and my services and obedience were his, although my feelings were my own; and, accordingly, stifling the latter, I prepared for my departure. On the very day whereon I was recalled, a sister of mine host's-a most reverend mechanic, who had been fourteen years married without chick or child-was brought to bed, to the unutterable surprise of her spouse, and of all the little world in Panama, of a male infant. It had rained the whole day, notwithstanding which, and its being the only authenticated production ever published by the venerable young lady, the picaniny was carried to the Franciscan church, a distance of half a mile, at nine o'clock at night, through a perfect storm, to be christened, and the evil star of poor Mangrove rose high in the ascendant on the occasion. After the ceremony, I was returning home chilled with standing uncovered for an hour in a cold damp church, and walking very fast, in order to bring myself into heat, when, on turning a corner, I heard a sound of flutes and fiddles in the street, and from the number of lanterns and torches that accompanied it, I conjectured rightly that it was a Function of no small importance-no less, in fact, than a procession in honour of the Virgin. Poor Mangrove at this time was pattering close to my heels, and I could hear him chuckling and laughing to himself," What dis can be-I say, Sneezer"-to his never-failing companion-"what you tink, John Canoe, after Spanish fashion, it most be, eh?" The dog began to jump and gambol about." Ah," continued the black pilot, no doubt, it must be John Canoe-I may dance-why not-eh?-oh, yes-I shall dance"and as the music struck into rather a quicker tune at the moment, our ebony friend began to caper and jump about as if he had been in Jamaica at Christmas time, whereupon one of the choristers, or music boys, as they were called, a beautiful youth, about forty years of age, six feet high, and proportionably strong, without the least warning, incontinently smote our amigo across the pate with a brazen saint that he carried, and felled him to the earth; indeed, if El Senor Justo had not been on the spot to interfere, we should have had a scene of it in all likelihood, as the instant the man delivered his blow, Sneezer's jaws were at his throat, and had he not fortunately obeyed me on the instant, and let go at the sound of my voice, we should have had a double of Macaire and the dog of Montargis. As it was, the noble animal, before he let go, brought the culprit to the ground like a shot. I immediately stood forward, and got the feud soldered as well as I could, in which the worthy Justo cordially lent me a hand. Next morning I rode out on my mule, to take my last dip in the Quebrada of the Loseria, which was a rapid in a beautiful little rivulet, distant from Panama about three miles, and a most exquisite bath it was. Let me describe it. After riding a couple of miles, and leaving the open savannah, you struck off sharp to the left through a narrow bridle-path into the wood, with an impervious forest on either hand, and proceeding a mile farther, you came suddenly upon a small rushing, roaring, miniature cascade, where the pent-up waters leaped through a narrow gap in the limestone rock, that you could have stept across, down a tiny fall about a fathom high, into a round foaming buzzing basin, twenty feet in diameter, where the clear cool water bubbled and eddied round and round like a boiling cauldron, until it rushed away once more over the lower ledge, and again disappeared, murmuring beneath the thick foliage of the rustling branches. The pool was about ten feet deep, and never was any thing more luxurious in a hot climate. $ After having performed my morning ablutions, and looking with a heavy heart at the sweet stream, and at every stock and stone, and shrub and tree, as objects I was never to see again, I trotted on, followed by Peter Mangrove, my trusty man-atarms, who bestrode his mule most gallantly, to Don Hombrecillo's Pen, as he delighted to call his countryhouse, situated about five miles from Panama, and which I was previously informed had been given up to the use of his two maiden sisters. I got there about half-past ten in the forenoon, and found that El Senor Justo had arrived before me. The situation was most beautiful; the house was embosomed in high wood; the lowest spurs put forth by the gigantic trees being far above the ridge pole of the wooden fabric. It was a low one-story building of unpainted timber, which, from the action of the weather, had been bleached on the outside into a whitish grey appearance, streaked by numerous green weather-stains. It was raišed about five feet on wooden |