Again, I will be with you, sounded in my ears, so I concluded not to die yet And but a few minutes after, a negro came along on a Btrong horse. I made a bargain with him for the use of the animal, for which I was to pay him ten dollars, on our arrival at Virgin Bay. What a sudden transition! Only a few minutes before I was wallowing in the mud, expecting t i die, and here I am now, mounted on a fine horse, and with a guide too! Reader, never distrust your ever-watchful Father, who car rth for you, never mind what the trouble is. Put your trust in %Ood, and don't give up the ship.
But there are times when Faith must be kept continually on the stretch, as it will appear in my case. My negro was a stalwart fellow, naked as he was born, except an old rusty sword, fastened to his body with a leather belt. Soon after I had mounted, lie Btruck off from the main road, into the forest, cutting away the underbrush, with his sword, to make a passage for himself and horse, but not cutting high enough for the rider, often did I have to dodge very quick, to prevent sharing the Pate of Absalom. He was a surly fellow, and took no notice of my complaints. All at once, it seemed to flash across my mind that the fellow was leading me into the woods, I i i and probably to kill me, everything about his movem looked so suspicious.
In order to be prepared for the worst, I kept my hand upon my knife, to be ready in an instant He knew I had gold upon my person, for, in adjusting my clothes, he had seen it. My fears, however, proved groundless; he was leading me along through a better and a shorter road. Soon we emerged into the highway again, ascended a hill, and there was Virgin Bay, beneath us, with a few temporary hovels, and a diminutive steamboat lying about a mile from the landing. The first thing, after getting into the town, was to make the best of my way to the water side, strip, wash my clothes, wring them well, and put them on again.
It now began to rain like fury. On going a short distance, got into a rough house, and obtained permission to go into the chamber, then stripped myself again, bathed from head to foot, with cold water, commenced rubbing with a coarse towel, until I felt a glow throughout my body, put on my wet clothes, purchased some refreshment, and followed the crowd to the landing, ready to embark for the steamer. Many of our party had not yet arrived, and I had cause to fear that some of them had met with a sad fate. It seemed as though my troubles would never end. Here were two hundred and seventy persons to be crammed on board a cockle shell of a steamer, not large enough to accommodate fifty persons comfortably.
We were all to be carried to the steamer in a miserable dug out, called a bungo. We must also be carried to the bungo on negroes' shoulders. It takes but a very little to capsize one of these tubs. It may be recollected that but a few years since, we received intelligence that one of them had been overset when full of passengers, and over fifty persons were drowned, some of whom were not recovered until many days after, having a large amount of gold dust about their persons, which kept their bodies down. When on board the bungo, I at once assumed the command, insisting on every one keeping himself seated on the bottom. Notwithstanding my exertions to prevent accident, it seemed, as if they were resolved to upset her at any rate, as many of them were intoxicated.
I finally succeeded in getting her out into deep water, so that no more could get on board. We then went out to the steamer, and when all the passengers were on board, her deck was only a few inches from the water. We were huddled together so close that there was not room for any one either to sit or lie down. The night was cold, and being wet felt very uncomfortable, in addition to which we were obliged to stand ankle deep in the water until morning. By squeezing along among the crowd, I got near the boiler, but was driven away by an Irishman who belonged to the boat. Resistance was out of the question. Early the next morning, we were abreast Fort Carlos, tho sun rose beautifully, and the morning was charming.
How gratefully did I receive his radiant beams upon my wet and shivering body. But here was another difficulty, the commanding officer at the Fort, forbid our passing. They had their guns manned all ready to fire into us. Our captain, a drunken, swaggering fellow, swore he would go by at any rate, but was persuaded to anchor the boat, go ashore, and arrange matters with the commanding officer. " This Fort is at the entrance of the Nicaragua river, and the right to navigate it bad not been negotiated. Matters being settled, we went on our way, and through the carelessness of the captain, the boat struck the bank, and broke off the rudder. We rigged a Kentucky oar over the bow, and went along firstrate.