"Thus we trudged on, often over difficult, and sometimes dangerous ways. Occasionally we would have to go up or down, as the case might be, for nearly half a mile at one time, through a chasm or sluice, probably worn in the mountains by the torrents of water that descend during the rainy season. These gully-holes are often ten and fifteen feet deep throughout their entire extent, and the passes are so narrow, as barely to admit of one horse or mule passing through at a time; the rider, to avoid a severe contusion, or probably a broken limb, in turning the sharp angles, being compelled to place his feet as near the animal's head as possible, and in this manner he can ride in perfect safety, though some little management is requisite to maintain an equilibrium. Before entering these defiles, the muleteers shout at the top of their voices, and stop for a short time, continuing the shouting as they advance, to apprize others at the opposite extremity of the pass, that the way is already occupied. This is necessary and important, for if two on horseback were to meet in one of these narrow but crooked paths, the scene between the Quaker and Dandy would have to be re-enacted, for many newspapers would have to be read, and many segars smoked, before either could turn out of the way for his neighbor.
"Continuing on, we passed two or three hackalas, or huts, by the way, and after several brief but pleasant stoppages at the various brooks and mountain-rills, we at length came out on a beautiful undulating meadow, where picturesque villas and shadowy trees decked the verdant plain, and soon thereafter the towers of Panama were in view. The sun was just setting as we entered the suburbs, and a flood of purple glory rested on the sky, reflected back by the sparkling waters of the Pacific, which brought the distant mountains into bolder relief, and cast a deeper shadow through the twilight groves. Half an hour's ride over the paved street, brought us to the city, which we entered at the 'Gorgona gate,' passing through a heavy stone arch way, supporting a cupola, in which hangs the alarm bell mounted by a cross."[15]
Such is the character of the Gorgona road to Panama. With regard to the Crucis road, we may observe that it is a common practice, for most of those who take the Gorgona road in going to Panama, on their return, to take the Crucis road, no doubt hoping that the difficulties and toil to be encountered are less than those they know are to be met with upon the other. The following account of a return journey by way of the Crucis road, with the full character of the route, is given in the journal of a returned adventurer.
"I had passed three days in Panama; and, feeling desirous of continuing my journey, I had no sooner concluded this arrangement, than I got my mule saddled, and my box and carpet-bag packed in the regular Isthmus fashion. The mule I obtained, like most of his fellows, was little better than a mere skeleton; but still it was the best I could procure, and I was fain to content myself with it. Some of my friends endeavored to persuade me that it was better to proceed on foot; but I knew the muddy and stony nature of the road, and thought it infinitely more comfortable to ride a slow animal than subject myself to the sufferings that I must experience from these inconveniences.
"The negro, I had hired, brought to my hotel a long frame of bamboo, with a sort of basket at the end, into which he crammed my luggage. This frame had two straps fastened to the upper part of it, through one of which he slipped his arm, whilst he passed the other over his left shoulder, and attached it under the latter to the frame which was now on his back. This contrivance not only effectually secures the load in its place, but protects the shoulders of the bearer from the continual friction they would otherwise undergo.
"A large party had preceded me; but I felt no anxiety to overtake it, as there was little or no danger of my encountering violence on the route. I was armed with a good revolving pistol, in the event of any thing of the sort presenting itself; so that, all things considered, I was just as well pleased to be left to my own society.
"I proceeded on my route with my sable attendant, and found the commencement pleasant enough travelling, the road for some distance being paved with large and regularly cut stone. This, however, soon terminated in abundance of sand; the route still continuing dry, and comparatively easy to what I had expected to find it. Soon after we had quitted the paved road, the negro stopped and asked my permission to take a few things to his family, who lived in a small hut to our left. Apprehensive that he was meditating an escape with my luggage, I replied that I had no objection, provided he would leave his basket in my care. He accordingly took the frame off his back, and, separating a small bundle containing provisions from my baggage, he took his departure. I took care, however, to keep him in sight and saw him enter a wretched-looking bamboo-hut at a little distance from the route. He remained absent a considerable time; and, having paid him half his wages in advance, according to the usual custom with these people, who are exceedingly distrustful, I began to fear that he was about to desert me, and therefore called out lustily, until at last I saw him reluctantly emerge from the hut, and make his way towards me. These negroes being constantly in the habit of deserting travellers on the route, and stealing their baggage whenever the opportunity presents itself, I was particularly careful not to lose sight of my attendant.
"A few miles further on, I again found myself on a stone road, said to have been paved by Cortes to facilitate the passage of his troops from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast; and, although I have travelled rougher and steeper routes in Lower California, I cannot say that I have ever encountered such a combination of petty difficulties and annoyances. The road is, for the greater part, barely wide enough to admit of one mule passing with its packs, the sides forming steep embankments, composed chiefly of rich clay, out, in many places, of large rocks, through which a passage had evidently been cut with great labor. But little of the country can be seen on either side, owing to the height of these embankments; but now and then the traveller obtains a glimpse of dense thickets, and occasionally of undulating hills, the summits of which are covered with a deep perennial green. The recent rains having poured in torrents down the steep sides of the road, every cavity and crevice was filled with water and mud. Owing to the nature of the soil, and the constant traffic across the route from the time it was originally cut through, innumerable stones and flags had sunk considerably below the level of their original position; whilst a few had retained their places, as if to serve as stepping-stones to the traveller over the wet and mud. It is a task of incessant and wearying exertion, however, even for those who are mounted on mules, to avoid floundering into some of these pitfalls and quagmires at every step they make.
"The mules themselves are, as I have already stated, so worn-out, and broken-down, that it requires the utmost vigilance and care on the part of their riders to prevent them dropping, and precipitating them into the mire. In order to guard as much as possible against this contingency, whenever ladies travel this route, they are obliged to discard the side-saddle, and resort to a less feminine style of equitation. I overtook a party of about twenty persons on the road, amongst whom was a married lady on her way to the States; and I watched her rather curiously, to observe how she got over the difficulties that beset her. Being fortified with that article of male attire, the figurative possession of which is said to denote domestic ascendency, she thought it incumbent upon her, I suppose, to display all the courage and nerve that should properly be encased in it. Several times, when I fancied that both she and her mule were on the point of being capsized, she recovered herself with admirable presence of mind, and seemed to enjoy the risk exceedingly.
"As to myself, I floundered on as well as I could with a mule tottering beneath me from sheer exhaustion, and sinking every minute up to his knees in mud. It seemed to me that we were making little or no progress; and I became thoroughly tired and disheartened. I do not know any temptation, however powerful, that would again induce me to encounter the never-ending series of difficulties and annoyances that laid in wait for me at every step; and I must candidly own, that even the force of female example, of which I had so merry a specimen before me, did not at all shame me into a less impatient endurance of them.